A blessed curse
by Beautiful dreaming warrior
Summary: The last children of a clan that not everyone knew about, but heard whispers of it being blessed by Okami and you know what? The whispers were right. Orochimaru wanted us to give him the children of the village, but my parents didn't. They declined and he came back with the intent of killing us. The village of twin moons was eradicated in one night. Now we are all that's left.
1. Chapter 1

You know how everyone is always born silent, but then they cry like there was no tomorrow after the doctor swats their bottom? Well I'm different. When I was swat, all I did was growl and glare at the doctor with big golden eyes. My mother said that it was because I was the first female born into the Ōtsuki clan with the attitude of all the females on her side of the family. My father and older brother agreed with that statement. When I was in the womb Okami, whom we are descended from, blessed me with some of his chakra. His chakra gave me the gift to transform into a majestic white wolf with his red markings, but I have to follow his rules. Protect those who deserve to be protected and those who have done evil deeds without ever repenting for them die by my claws. I haven't been able to control the evil bloodlust part of me that likes to come out and kill the evil souls around me. I killed my older brother when I was 2 because he was killing innocent wolf pups while their parents were out hunting. When they found him he had Okami's symbols burnt into his forehead and his throat was ripped out. They found me sitting there with his gold blood running down my chin and the front of my dress. My parents understood what happened when they saw his symbol, but I could tell that they feared me and somewhat hated me because of what I had to do to their first born.

The next month, Orochimaru got upset when my father and mother declined his proposition to gain more ninjutsu and in exchange to give him all of the kids that were my age. I overheard my parents and other members said that it was wrong because all he would do is experiment on us to save his own life. From then on no one talked or even thought about that snake coming. During our full moon festival he attacked with his followers that had strange justus and my family quickly pushed me into my cousins' arms. My eldest cousins that are twin 10 year olds, Taro and Ginro Otsuki, the biggest goofballs but also the most protective goofballs ever. Taro has short black hair with light blue highlights and Ginro has shoulder length black hair with medium blue highlights while both of them have the clans' golden eyes and medium tan skin like their dad, my dad's brother. We escaped with a small pack of clothes, our clans' scrolls, and my mothers' weapons. We had escaped with tears in our eyes, a thick mist covering us, and a promise under the full moon that we three will live on for our family.

For the past three years we have been running, masking our scent, and staying far away from people as best we could. Just in case they were associated with the snake of a man. Otherwise all of our clans fighting to keep us from being caught escaping the massacre, would've been for nothing. For the past year and a half, we have stay just behind the border of the Hidden Leaf Village just outside of their wall. We've been staying with a wolf pack, so that we won't get eaten by other animals and the fact that we have a natural scent of wolf blood in us cause of Okami.

At the moment, Taro is off hunting with the wolf pack that we're living with while Ginro is getting some water for our little bath in the back of the cave. I'm in the cave with the pups in my little Okami pup form scrapping while the mothers watch us. They practically smile as we scrap and I get a shiver up my spine of something weird near us. I bark out to them as I smell a weird scent coming near the cave and I tilt my head wondering where it's come from. I slowly transform into my human form and as I do I stretch out popping my joints. In my human form I am a short little girl with dark blue and turquoise highlighted hair with gold eyes that come from my clan. My mother's nice tan skin with the bright red Okami's' marks on my forehead, under and around my eyes, on my upper arms, and down my ribs to my hips. I fix my clan's beads in my hair and I walk out of the back of the cave before peeking out. All I see is the forest around the cave while it's nice and cool there is barely a breeze. I put my nose to the wind and take a deep breath. I smell the wet leaves after the latest rain, the wolf pack's scent since it's their territory and something that smells weird. I change back into my wolf form and I walk out kinda hesitantly while I use my extra senses to try and find that weird smell.

As I walk around in my wolf form trying to find the weird scent from the wind, I get distracted by the simplest things but hey they can't blame me, I'm only 5 years old. Being 5 and with no adults around I can do what I want. This stuff is all new to me. I look around and I whine slightly to see that I am really lost. I growl to myself just because I was chasing a big butterfly with bright blue wings and I was able to make myself lost. I keep walking until I stop when I climb onto a big boulder and I see big green doors with red paint. I tilt my head smelling some pretty smelly stuff coming from inside of it. I jump off the boulder before walking closer to the gate hesitantly and I get stopped. I yelp lightly before looking up to see a very tall man with brown hair and dark brown eyes. His hair is combed down and is covering his right eye. I wonder why? He has a forehead protector like a bandana like my father used to wear his, but this has a swirly leaf with a beak instead of two crescent moons back to back.

He bends down to my level and tilts his head at me with a smile on his face. "What are you doing here little wolf?" He asks softly and I tilt my head copying him which makes himself chuckle at me. "Hey Kotetsu come down here. Check out this this cute little wolf pup." he says as he gently picks me up and cradles me to his chest. I put my nose to his vest and take in his scent, so I can recognize it easier. Then as he's petting me a man with long spiky, black hair jumps down. I jump a bit when I see him and his dark colored eyes.

"She is kinda cute Izumo. I wonder where her pack is. She barely looks old enough to be on her own." He says as I see that he has strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-colored marking on his chin that looks like a tattoo. He looks around hesitantly while I close my eyes loving the pets I'm getting. I smell the other man as well taking in his scent, so that I can remember it later.

"Do you think we should have her checked out by the Inuzuka clan?" Izumo asks as they start walking into town with me in his arms.

"I think that we should. Just in case she's injured and we can't see it." Kotetsu says as he scratches behind my ear before rubbing Okami's mark on the middle of my forehead. I let out a quiet sigh and relax in Izumo's arms before we can walk fully into the village I hear fast footsteps.

"Hey! Let go of our cousin!" I hear Taro and Ginro yell out with growls in their voices. I open my eyes and jump out of the man's arms before I transform midair stopping them. I land behind them before I grab Taro's ponytail and Ginro's braid. I pull them back and push them to the ground making them land on their butts hard whining at me that I did.

" **Stop. They were trying to help me out. I got lost**." I sign out to them with some whines since I got myself lost and they stand up and rub their butts. The both of them look down at me embarrassed that they were about to attack the adults. It's quite obvious that they have never seen a little girl wearing only ripped up pair of shorts and a tank top that has my clans' print on it. Her older twin cousins are wearing no shirts and baggy pants with rope belts with no shoes on and their hair also very long.

"Oh. Sorry about that we're just overprotective of our baby cousin." Taro says with a light blush on his cheeks. Ginro kneels down to pick me up and put me on his back. I look at Izumo and Kotetsu as they look us over before looking around in the surrounding area.

"It's fine. Where are you parents at?" Izumo asks as he looks around slightly tensed up as if he's going to attack anything that sneaks up on him.

I whine and nuzzle into Ginro's back, "They were all wiped out. We're the only three to survive the attack." Ginro says as I look up at Izumo and Kotetsu.

"What land are you from?" Kotetsu asks.

"I think that the elders called the land. The land of Spirits." Ginro says as he makes sure that my ankles are locked around his waist.

"But the adults said that our village was the one everyone called um The Village Hidden under the Twin Moons." Taro says and he shows the birthmarks that we have on our left wrists. I trace it with my nails and a picture of my mom and dad pops up in my head.

"Orochimaru slaughtered our clan three years ago for not giving into his demands." Taro says as he pets my long hair playing with my three beads. My beads are a symbol I'm supposed to get at least five. My clans' name in kanji sign on one of the greens when I'm born, our double crescents on the blue one when I turn 12, a white one when I have my first successful hunt, another green one for passing my graduation exam, and a black one when I get engaged to my soulmate. Our stomach growl and we blush as the adults' chuckle at us.

"Please come with us. We'll take you three to go get some real food in your tummies then we can take you to get some real clothes to wear." Kotetsu says and the boys look at me. The reason they look at me is because technically I'm the heiress to our clan even though we're the only ones left.

" **I say that we can trust these two. Okami isn't calling for their blood**." I sign to them and they nod their heads before they escort us into the village. I look around and I hear the whispers while people pass us. I growl lightly before the adults bump into a man that has spiky silver hair that's combed to his left-side, one dark grey eye that looks really relaxed with the protector over his left eye.

"Hey Kakashi, wanna join us for lunch?" The adults ask him as he looks over at us three and I look my eyes with his visible one. His scent comes over the wind and it instantly calms me for some reason. I smile at him and wave to him and I see that it shocked him through his only visible eye. He relaxes and smiles behind the mask and through his visible eye.

"Sure. Let's go get some barbecue." He says as he comes over to us faster than we never seen. He was so fast that Ginro and Taro are startled and they even jumped. It makes Ginro drop me which makes me let out a yelp as I land on my back. He bends down in front of me and helps me up. "You okay little one?" He asks softly and I nod. "Would you like to be picked up?" He asks softly and I hear gasps all around us before I nod lifting my arms up. I jut my lower lip out in a pout and he picks me up putting me on his hip with a happy squint in his eye. I put a hand on his mask and he shakes his head.

"Did you see that? Did Kakashi really act like a father to the girl?" I hear people whisper as we walk and I try to get more of this Kakashi's scent on me while my cousins smirk at me. I growl at them playfully and they chuckle at me before we get to the restaurant where I pout at them they continue chuckling at me. We get seats and I try to grab the meat that they put down before he grabs my wrist making me look up at him.

"This kind of meat can make you sick if you don't let it cook on the grill. You have to be patient, little one." He says softly and I pout before he lets me settle down on my seat.

" **Aww look our little Maiko is pouting**." Taro signs to me and I stick my tongue out at him. Of course makes my cousins chuckle at my childlike behavior because of us having to be on the run and we have to act a lot like adults. Unbeknownst to us kids the adults talk of things while we start talking about who should go get what little belongings that we do have in the cave. " **I'll get them when they aren't paying attention**."

I nod, " **Good. I need my Kohaku or else I can't sleep**." I sign to them with a blush on my cheeks and they nod. They know that the stuffed animal is the last gift I got from my parents before the festival massacre happened. As we have our conversation my ears twitch feeling they're talking about us fully now. I tune into the adults conversation as I feel their eyes on us and I look at them tilting my head slightly.

"Wow. I have never seen you so parental Kakashi." Izumo says with a smirk on his lips. I tilt my head slightly confused at Izumo before my cousins make sure to fill my plate and my water cup before dealing with their own food. The three of us start eating, but we don't let them see that we're paying attention to their conversation.

"She's the only kid that has ever smiled at me besides..." He trails off, "The only one to not look at me with fear in their eyes because of what they have overheard their parents say about me. About what has happened in my past." He whispers to them and I eat quickly, but gracefully making the adults look at me with pride and shock in their eyes. I blush as I wipe my mouth with my napkin and drink my entire water glass in one chug. I smile as a waitress comes by and refills my drink. I nod my head and sign to her a simple, 'thank you.' She smiles and bows to me halfway.

"Sorry, we've been with wolves for too long to let food sit around for too long." Ginro says as the adults chuckle before eating some more of their barbecue off the grill.

"No problem. So what land are you from kids?" Kakashi asks as he puts some veggies on my plate and I growl before pushing the plate slightly. "Ah ah, eat some or else no candy." He says and my eyes widen. I pout and bat my eyes at him, "No trying to use your big eyes. Eat some of the veggies and then you can have candy later."

I pout ignoring the question about what land we're from, but do it anyways while I see my cousins gaping at me and even as we're shopping for clothes I keep my hand in Kakashi's. After he gives me some candy we go to what they call the 'The Hokage's office.' Kakashi stays with us while the boys talk in their twin bond and I nibble on some strawberry gummy candy Kakashi bought for me. Kakashi glares at people who walk by staring at me on his lap while Izumo and Kotetsu are talking to the person. I look around as I take in the different scents around us and the twin look out of the little windows as best they can. As adults walk by they stop and stare at my marks and my old colored eyes.

"So boys, why does your cousin not talk?" Kakashi asks as he braids my messy hair without it getting into crazy rats nest which is quite surprising. I smile as I pet the braids and move them to my back.

They look at me and I nod before I keep eating more of the yummy gummy candy, "The last time she ever spoke a word was at the full moon festival three years ago, when she was dancing with her father around the fire. From then on she says that she has no reason to talk anymore and she learned how to sign from a book we found at an abandoned house in the land of earth." Ginro says as he looks at me while Kakashi finishes the two braids and he leaves my bangs and beads out of the braids.

"You can come in now. Izumo and I have got to go back to the gate." I wave at them happily as they leave and they wave at me back with smiles. Kakashi puts me down and we walk into the big office. I hold onto Kakashi's pant leg while Ginro and Taro are on high alert.

"Hokage-sama, as you know they were found by the guards at the main gate." The old man nods, "They are the only known survivors of the Full Moon massacre. They say they are from the Land of Spirits from the Otsuki clan." Kakashi says and I look up confused wondering how he knew when the other two didn't know as the old man takes a puff of smoke that smells gross. The man nods and puffed out the remaining smoke and stood up. He walked to stand in front of his desk to face us fully.

"That was three years ago. How did you three escape?" The old man asks as he looks at us and I tilt my head unsure if I should sign or have them talk instead. I bite my lip and motion for Taro to translate for me.

" **I was dancing with my cousins during the family dance of the full moon**. **There was a strange scent that came over the wind. It was something that I have never smelt before. My family and I were about to start the family hunt when...** " I reply signing to him making his face seem slightly surprised, but he quickly recovers. I put my hands down as the memories come back and I start tearing up slightly.

"Then all of a sudden there was people screaming. Our shinobi automatically started fighting the intruders that ran through the village. Mine and Ginro's mom didn't want the shinobi life, so she started helping the wounded and treating them. Our fathers hid us three in a room that was hidden in one of the caves near the ocean. We fell asleep to the screams of our village and once morning came we didn't leave. We didn't leave for four days waiting for someone to come get us and tell us that they're safe. That we didn't need to worry, but when we emerged we saw the ashes and the bodies everyone from then on we ran." Ginro and Taro switching off sentences as they tell our story since I have my head down trying to shake their screams out of my head. "And we have never looked back."

" **For the past year and a half, we have been living with the wolf pack that lives just outside that wall**." I sign to them and then point off to our right.

"I see, what are your names?" He asks with a smile.

"I am Taro Ideka. Ginro is my younger twin and our little cousin is Maiko Otsuki." Taro introduces us and we bow to the Hokage since we sense that he is kinda like the alpha. We look up at him and I listen for Okami's howl just in case, but I relax my body when I don't.

"Well, young ones. My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen, but you may call me Hokage-sama. Alright?" We nod and he rubs his sharp goatee. "For the time being, since you three just children, I can assign for someone to take care of you for a while but when you're older or when you have no need of a caretaker, you will need to fend for yourself. Is that all right?"

I nod as do my cousin, "Who will take care of us?" I sign to them and I look at the three adults while Taro and Ginro cross their arms while they watch their faces. I look up as I see the Hokage wave his hands to the three behind us.


	2. Chapter 2

**_SEVEN YEARS LATER~x~_**

For the past seven years we have been training and in our off time being kids. My Okami form has grown from the size of a regular wolf and now I'm three times the height. My human height hasn't changed much. I'm still short. I'm shorter than my friend Naruto. Since we were still young they placed us into the care of Kakashi and then when Ginro and Taro turned 18 we built a big house. We built it near the Naka River so we could be as loud as we want and no one could get upset. It's hidden in the trees to show that we are more in tune with our Clans' wolf nature and it's pretty self-sufficient as long as one person is in here. Which it usually is. I usually have it to myself while they are on missions or I have my best friends come over. If you are wondering my best friends are Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and of course Hinata. What a weird combo of friends huh?

At the moment, I'm in the shower washing the dirt off my face cause of the early mud wrestling I did with the wolf pack outside of the wall. I usually go to them when I wanna hone in my wolf instincts again. As soon as I see my skin is cleaned of all of the dried mud, I wash the cherry blossom shampoo and conditioner out of my hair before I get out. I dry off really quickly and I brush my hair out before braiding my hair into twin braids. I pull my bra on along with the matching panties before I pull on my usual clothes. This consists of a one strap turquoise top that hugs the premature curves I have with the fishnet angel sleeve covering my right arm and a pair of black shorts with my clans' sigil on the left side of my hip with a fishnet gypsy skirt. I walk out of my bathroom and it's so silent without my rowdy cousins trying to make breakfast. I sigh softly before going to my dresser and put on my forearm guards before my fingerless gloves I got from Kakashi that attach to the arm guards. I then start wrapping my legs up with my bandages to hide the scars I have from scrapping with full grown wolves and then I pull on and lace up my knee high boots. The apartment door opens and I instantly smell Ramen. I smile before strapping my thigh guard onto my right leg with my little bag on the back of my right hip.

"Maiko! I got us some breakfast Ramen!" I smile as I hear Choji and Shikamaru before I walk out of my bedroom seeing them setting the table. I fix my outfit before walking over to the boys.

"You troublesome girl. You went out to the pack again didn't you?" Shikamaru asks before he kisses my temple on greeting and I raise my eyebrow before he points to my lip.

" **Yes I did. I got this winning my match against Dae and his mate Tao last night.** " I sign to them before I sit down at the table and start eating my mostly chicken and beef Ramen.

He rolls his eyes before he sits next to me and we eat our breakfast in peace before I grab one of my bags of candy so we can head to school. We play tag for a little while and I use just a bit of my chakra to gain more speed so I can't get tagged. We stop playing closer to the academy, "It's our graduation exam today, and are you excited?" Choji asks as I pop some gummies into my mouth and he throws some chips into his mouth.

" **Of course! It's gonna be so easy. I just hope that there's no genjutsu involved.** " I sign with a smirk as I move my bangs out of my eyes while we get closer to the academy.

"You two are so troublesome. No wonder you two get along you two eat like there's not gonna be a tomorrow." Shikamaru says and I growl at his pineapple haired head before jumping onto his back. I nip at his ear before trying to spin me off and I hear chuckling as our other friends come up.

"What did you say now, Shikamaru?" Shino asks in his monotonous voice as I jump off his back before tackling him to the ground and pinning him. I sit on his stomach with my hands holding tight onto his forearms which are pinned to his chest.

"I just said that no wonder she and Choji get along cause they were both eating like there wasn't gonna be a tomorrow." Shikamaru says as he looks at them from the ground and I look at the boys who are standing and they all face palm. I nod and they shake their heads.

"You're an idiot. Why? Because I even I know not to tell a woman that she eats a lot and I don't talk to woman unless I have to." Shino says in his emotionless voice. I stand up after he says that and I give out hugs to them all before we walk to our classroom. I sit down in my usual seat and lay my head down before closing my eyes.

"Maiko!" I yelp and automatically go on the defensive throwing a pencil that was near my hand at the voice as I hear someone yell my name. I look up to see Iruka-Sensei with the pencil in between two fingers and smirking proudly at me as my cheeks turn pink. "Nice reflexes but choose a partner to practice your throwing skills." I smile embarrassingly and rub the back of my neck before nodding.

" **Sorry**." I grab Kiba's arm and he puts his arm around my shoulders pulling me close before Akamaru licks my cheek from his spot in Kiba's jacket. We get to the field and start practicing. I try doing some flips while I throw and I smile wide as most of them end up where men don't want to be hit.

"Wow. I wouldn't want to be a boyfriend that hurt you." Kiba whispers in my ear give it a kiss and I blush slightly, but quickly and playfully tug on his hair. He whines and I give his red cheek triangle a kiss before walking away. I smile and I get picked up put on a shoulder and spun around by Kiba. When we get back from practice, Naruto is tied up with a lot of rope and getting a lecture from Iruka-Sensei.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei says as his head looks as if it's about to boil over. Everyone's eyes seem to be on him or Naruto. "You failed the graduation test this time and the time before that. Tomorrow, you're getting another chance, but you're messing it up again."

I lean closer to Kiba, " **I don't remember having so many of those**."

"Because you're always slacking." Kiba whispered back teasingly and I quickly elbow him in the side. He grunts before giving me a growl and I growl back teasingly before he nuzzles my neck in a hug then bites down on my shoulder playfully like we do during sparring.

"Fine! Because you missed it, Naruto! Everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!" Iruka-sensei commands, pointing at the class. The whole class whines at this with some of them glaring at Naruto for the extra work.

I shrug my shoulders and lean back into Kiba's chest, "I shouldn't have come today, dammit." I roll my eyes and smile as he nuzzles my hair. We wait in line to do the jutsu until Naruto pulled another stupid idea and turned into a well formed female version of himself, causing Iruka-sensei to nosebleed away. I stifle my giggle and try not to let it out from my hand.

I spot Kiba eyeing at him (or would it be called her?) and nudge him teasingly with a smirk on my lips, " **What looking at you pervert?** "

He grabs my neck and rubs his fist on my head roughly, "Shut it, Mai!" I silently laugh at his embarrassment while I am in his head lock. He's too easy to tease! I smile before slipping out and doing my transformation easily and I even to make sure to have his attitude before he nods and waves me off.

After the review is over I see Naruto sitting on his swing and I smell his sadness as he looks over at us. I walk over getting his attention with a smile and I tilt my head. " **Come on, you dork. Let's go get some Ramen.** " I say as I hold my hand out hearing the whispers of the parents picking up their kids.

"Let's go!" He says enthusiastically as he grabs my hand. I glare at the adults near us letting my wolf eye come out to scare them away before we run to Ichiraku's. I smile as we order our food and I look at him, "I didn't do the transformation right again. Can you help me, KoKo?" He asks and I nod a he uses my nickname that he created.

" **After we eat we can go to your apartment and practice.** " I sign and he nods before we start eating our ramen bowls. After we eat and I pay for our food, we go to the training grounds and I start having him practice until its dinner time. "I'll see you tomorrow!" I smile and wave as he runs home. I look up at the sunset and sigh before I pull out my shakuhachi pieces and twist them together. I take a deep breath and as I walk I create an eerie lullaby while I walk home. I open the door with my chakra lock and I see that no one is home again. I take my shoes off before locking the door and going to my room to sleep as soon as my head hits my pillows.

The graduation exams are today. And to me they were a piece of cake, with absolutely nothing to it. I hide my smarts with slacking off for home and pop quizzes before the real tests. Just like Taro and Ginro did just in case there's spies for the snake guy hiding amongst us in our new home. Everything went quite smoothly and a lot of people passed. Well, some didn't make it but who am I to judge them?

Iruka-sensei gives me the forehead protector with a black bandanna instead of blue, his smile very proud, "Congratulations, Maiko. You've earned it." I raise an eyebrow at him, grinning. "Your picture can be taken anytime today or tomorrow and please make sure that it is presentable."

"Good job, golden eyes." Mizuki says and for some reason it makes my skin crawl. I think that it's nothing. And I would be happier about passing, but Mizuki-sensei, creeped me out. I have never liked the man with his shifty eyes and skin crawling voice and his scent. It so disgusting. It's not like he had a bad natural scent or anything, he's actually smells squeaky clean all the damn time, but he reeks of mental sickness. It's the sort of smell that gnaws on you and fills you with hate and envy. It makes me uneasy whenever I get within five feet of him. He smiles at me but I think the smile I returned was more of an upside down scowl. Turning my heel, I make my way out of the building, putting distance between me and the gawd awful smell, to where the graduated students are in a crowd with their proud families.

I sigh before putting my protector on like a choker and I see Naruto on the swing with his sadness practically choking the air around him. I'm about to walk over to him, but I get blocked by Izumo and Kotetsu's bodies. I smile as Izumo picks me up before spinning me, "Congratulations little wolf! You're finally a genin." He says as he carries me away from the academy on his shoulder while Kotetsu just laughs.

"I **know! I'm so happy! Can we go get some candy**?" I ask while they smile up at me and I feel like a little kid for the first time since I was living in Kakashi. I giggle internally as I remember a couple of the really bad Sugar highs I got back then.

"Of course. Let's go to Sugar Wheels and we can get you candy before we take you home." Kotetsu says with a smile and I nod happily. Ever since Izumo and Kotetsu found me and my cousins at the gate, they've been like older brothers to me. They even take care of me when the twins are out on very long missions and sometimes even Kakashi helps and has me over or spends the night here. After we get some more candy to stock the house with they make me get some regular groceries from the kitchen. We get to my house and they make me wear my hair down for the picture since it'll go into a bingo book when I get even more deadly than I am. I get to the place and the guys tell me to smile, so I give my most deadly smirk. I turn a bit so he can barely see my markings and I give a little smirk as the light hits my eyes just right to reflect back. I head back home and we make a BBQ chicken stir fry while we eat they tell me about some of their old stories from childhood. They make me shower and go to bed early because of us genin getting placed into team's tomorrow morning.

I wake up early and run over to the Nara household letting the wind wake me up even more. I get greeted by Shikamaru's mom and she smiles at me, "You coming to wake up Shikamaru?" She asks and I nod. "Go on just no water and no ice cubes." I blush remembering that and I nod before quietly running up to his room. I quietly open the door and crawl over to his bed before pouncing on him. I whine and nuzzle him before nipping at his ear. He growls back at me and wraps me up in his arms keeping me pinned.

"Troublesome girl." He growls in my ear after kissing my cheekbone and he returns the nip on my ear. I yelp and he chuckles before pinning me to his bed and not letting me get up. I whine and try to wiggle away.

"Shikamaru let that poor girl up and get some breakfast or I will get the water bucket." I hear his dad say and I smile at him before I keep poking his side. Shikamaru grumbles before letting me get up and fix my clothes while he gets dressed. "Why is it you can wake him up but when we try all we get are growls?" His dad asks with a smile as I give him a hug.

" **Because I just jump on him and keep moving until he gets tired of trying to keep me still**. **Or I bite his ear to wake him.** " I sigh to him and he smiles.

"Okay little golden eyes. Go get some breakfast and I'll make sure that he stays awake." He says before gently pushing me towards the stairs. I nod and quickly walk down the stairs before my ears pick up Shika's dads' voice.

"When are you going to ask little golden eyes to be your girlfriend?" He asks and I blush before I tune out of their conversation as I sit down at the table waiting for breakfast to start. He and his dad come down and Shikamaru sits next to me. We finish up and we walk to Choji's house to pick him up before going to the academy. I walk into the class after Shikamaru and I smile slightly at our newly graduated friends. Most of them are excited, talking at about the high notes and playing around pretending to act like real ninja.

"Hey, what're you doing here, Naruto? This isn't the place for drop outs; you're not supposed to be here unless you're graduated." I hear Shikamaru ask and I looked over his shoulder to see the blonde pointing at his new headband.

I smile and give him a hug as he smiles and gives me a hug back, "Oh yeah? Do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru; it's a graduation headband, so that means we're training together! How do you like that?" Shikamaru just huffs in annoyance that I give Naruto hugs and he returns it before I sit down next to him. We talk some more and we plan on going to get some Dango or ramen or even me cooking. But only after we meet our team leader and train for a little bit. Before I could sign to Naruto again, shouts of "I got here first!" make us turn our heads to the door. I growl in annoyance as the smell of sickly sweet flowers come wafting into the room.

Oh yay. Ino and Sakura are at it again. Whining, fighting, rivaling with each other sometimes for stupid reasons. I bet that they don't get tired of arguing with one another. Hell _I'm_ tired just by looking at those two when they get all riled up. Naruto on the other hand, looks like me when I get some new candy. I think he said one time that he likes Sakura. Sighing and rolling my eyes, I watch as Sakura comes over prancing like a newborn show horse, her eyes shining like stars.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greets her, but is ignored and pushed away by Sakura as she greets somebody behind me.

"Good morning, Saskue-kun!" She says with a flirty tone to her voice and I turn to see King Silent Duckbutt himself. The boy looks over to her, his expression unblinking. Wow, even I'm not that rude to people. I scoff out of disbelief when Sakura asks femininely, "Mind if I sit next to you?" Why is it girls like these fan girls give sane girls a disgusting rap? I mean, I'm a girl, but you don't see me groveling like that. That's just disgusting.

And to no surprise Ino comes along and go, "Back off, Forehead. I'm sitting next to Saskue-kun!"

"I was here first!"

"I walked in the classroom first, everybody saw it!" Ino counters and I roll my eyes before signing to them.

" **Well you guys got here way after me, so...** " I sign with a smirk on my face and they look at me.

"Stay out of this, Maiko!" Ino threatens trying to intimidate me (which doesn't work at all) and I raise my eyebrow at her.

I shrug lightly before signing back, " **Ino... trust me you couldn't scare a baby bunny and if anyone is gonna sit next to King Silent Duckbutt they would have to deal with his brooding silence**." I giggle silently at my own joke. Oh come on that was a funny joke.

The girls glare at me with so much hate; it should have turned me into ash. Well, should. Not like I care. And I return the glare back to them except mine is effective and scares them away from me. I smirk as I play with my nails trying to decide whether or not to file them or sharpen them again. The silence that happens after me glaring at them then it all comes crashing down as more fangirls start showing up to claim their spot. I stand up and jump onto the table before standing up causing everyone to look at me. Talk about being stealthy. I roll my eyes as I look down at them.

" **Woah, don't mind me. Keep at it. I don't wanna be here when it comes to blows now**." I sign before they all relax as I walk backwards on the table. Suddenly, I nudge into something and I turn around to see Saskue's and Naruto's lips were locked on each other. I try not to laugh but I let out a laugh that no one has heard and I barely recognize it myself because of its musical tone to it. They quickly pull apart and began to gag, holding on to their throats as if they want to cough their lungs out. I end up on the ground tears rolling down my face as I hold my stomach till laughing my ass off. Then out of nowhere I get picked up by Kiba and he carries me to a different table before the girls can attack me. I giggle silently as Kiba kisses my forehead and I feel my cheeks flare up while he laughs at the girls.

Kiba sits me down on the table in front of him as he sits down and puts his head in my lap. Shikamaru is sitting in front of me and he smirks, "Well done; now you're on a lot of people hit list."

I lifted my shoulders, my mouth spread in a smile, " **Maybe. But poor Naruto. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time**." The boys' chuckle and I smile as I pet Kiba's long hair under his hood. " **I just realized that may have been their first kiss!** " I sign excitedly and I giggle silently even though everyone has already heard my laugh.

"Alright, listen up!" Iruka-sensei calls from the front as everyone quiet down and I get off the table and sit next to Kiba. I look down at Naruto to see Sakura beat him up so bad and I furrow my eyebrows. Once Iruka's gets everyone's total attention, he continues, "Starting today, you are all official ninjas, but you're all still Genin. It's only going to get harder from here on out. You all will be grouped into three man squads, where you will accomplish missions under a Jonin teacher."

"Hmm, I wonder who's going to be on Saskue-kun's team." I heard Ino chastises and Sakura glares at her.

" **Who knows and who cares**?" Rolling my eyes, I lay my head on my crossed arms as Kiba let's Akamaru lay on my head instead of his.

"We've arranged the groups such that overall abilities are equivalent." Iruka says and he lifts up a few papers, "I will now announce them."

As he starts listing out the teams and their members, I count everyone in the class room and squint my eyes as I think. That's where my brain gets confused a bit. There are 31 of us that graduated. We are to be divided into three man teams that would mean that either one team would have four members. Then again, what about the single person? Would they get one on one training or what?

"Next, team seven. Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno." After Iruka-sensei gives the news, Naruto stands up and whoops while Sakura's head drops. "And Saskue Uchiha." This time, their reactions are reversed. "Oh, and Maiko Ōtsuki." My head pops up and I let a whine out causing Akarmaru yelp before I put him my lap. "Because the Jonin that was assigned to this team had requested for you, you will be part of Team Seven as well."

"WHAT?!" I hear Shikamaru and Kiba yell out upset that I'm not their team and or teams. I blush seeing the girls smirking at me because they think that they _like_ me. Which is soooo wrong, they do not _like_ me. I growl lightly at the girls before pulling Kiba down back in his seat and I nod to Shikamaru letting him know it's okay.

"Now moving on, Team Eight. Hinata Hyuga. Kiba Inuzuka. And Shino Aburame." Iruka-sensei continues looking at the clipboard. I see Kiba looking at me apologetically and I make the saddest face I could, causing him to snigger before wrapping his arm around me pulling me closer.

That's when I raise my hand, " **But sensei! A four man team? Isn't that against the rules**?"

Iruka-sensei looks at me quickly to catch my signs and he sighs rubbing his neck, "Although four man squads are rare, they're not unheard of. And we have the Hokage's explicit permission on this. So you guys are in a team. Is that clear?"

Ino glares at Sakura and I, while Kiba pulls me closer with his hand holding my arm, "Okay, Sakura is one thing. How are YOU so lucky to get on Saskue's team?"

I sigh and look at her in disappointment, " **Apparently Kami has a plan in store for my twist of bad luck**."

"I don't get why girls like a guy like him." Kiba whispers in my ear as Shikamaru says something that aggravates Ino even more and I shrug my shoulders.

"That's why you're not popular. I wouldn't want to be in a team with a guy like you." She says as Kiba leans his head against mine and I close my eyes wanting to take a nap.

"Team 10. Ino Yamanaka. Shikamaru Nara." the voice of impending doom announces and I smirk since she just jinxed herself.

I can't tell the Shikamaru is just smirking at her, "I'm sorry, what was it about you not wanting to be in a team with me?"

"And Choji Akimichi." I hear her whining at her luck and I roll my eyes almost feeling sorry for her, but that's what she gets for jinxing herself. "So that's it for the groups."

"Iruka-sensei, why is a top student like me in a group with this guy?" I hear Naruto complain and I shake my head slightly making Kiba growl. I smirk before I move his head and he nips at my neck in retaliation. "Saskue graduated with the highest scores, while you, Naruto, on the other hand had the worst." The class's laughter fills the room as Iruka continues, "This happens because we want to evenly divide abilities between the groups."

"Seems like you've got yourself some new friends little wolf." I hear Kiba whisper before licking the sting and I playfully swat his hand.

I pout at him, " **You too**."

Sighing as I fix my braids and bangs while he looks at me, "I've got Shino and Hinata. We just have to work on getting Hinata's confidence up before we try to do anything." I nod and stretch my arms feeling my top ride up before I push it down to hide the rest of my markings. "Now that I think about it, who do you think requested for you?" Kiba asks confused as Iruka is talking up a storm.

" **I have no idea. But I can guess that it's Izumo, Kotetsu, or Kakashi since they were the three that have been protective of my cousins and I. Plus my cousins are still on a mission."** I sign and he nods before I hear that the complaining over teams has been silenced.

"Alright, after lunch, your respective Jonin will come to pick you up. Until then, you're dismissed." Iruka-sensei says before leaving us to our own devices.

"You're coming over for dinner tonight, right?" Kiba asks as we stand up and stretch as I let Akamaru climb back onto Kiba's head.

" **I think the twins are coming back tonight so I'm going to make dinner**." I sign as he gives me a hug and a kiss on the forehead in the middle of my mark. I smile slightly before everyone leaves. I sigh and I pull out my shakuhachi. The crowd in the class begins to thin out as all the teams walk out for lunch together while others hang out with their besties for the last time before going their separate ways later. I sigh lightly and I lay down on the table relaxing. I start playing a song that I heard back in my village. I let the music notes flow out as I imagine my mother and father singing and dancing to it. I smile with my eyes before I use my wind to transport outside onto the room to the academy. I open my eyes and I sit down looking out at the village. I look around for anyone that might be able to hear.

I smile as I put my shakuhachi away and I start singing, "You know there's a lot that goes by the front door

Don't forget the keys under the mat  
Childhood stars shine, always stay humble and kind  
Go to church 'cause your momma says to  
Visit grandpa every chance that you can  
It won't be a waste of time  
Always stay humble and kind" I sing out softly knowing that there's no one around to hear my real voice. I like being able to sign my answers instead of talk cause it throws my enemy's off balance. I smile as the breeze starts carrying my voice over the tops of the village. "Hold the door say please say thank you Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie

I know you got moutains to climb but  
Always stay humble and kind  
When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you  
When the work you put in is realized  
Let yourself feel the pride but  
Always stay humble and kind" I play my instrument to the tune of my song and I imagine my mother and father dancing around the big bonfire. Their long black and turquoise hair swinging around them with moon blossoms blooming in their hair as pins. I smile before singing the next part. "Don't expect a free ride from no one

Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why  
Bitterness keeps you from flying  
Always stay humble and kind  
Know the difference between sleeping with someone  
And sleeping with someone you love  
I love you ain't no pick up line so  
Always stay humble and kind

Hold the door say please say thank you  
Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie  
I know you got moutains to climb but  
Always stay humble and kind  
When those dreams you're dreamin' come to you  
When the work you put in is realized  
Let yourself feel the pride but  
Always stay humble and kind

When it's hot, eat a root beer, a popsicle  
Shut off the AC and roll the windows down  
Let that summer sun shine  
Always stay humble and kind  
Don't take for granted the love this life gives you  
When you get where you're goin'  
Don't forget turn back around  
Help the next one in line  
Always stay humble and kind" I let the tears fall down my face as the memory of my parents disappears with my last long note while the leaves fall to the ground below me. I yawn lightly as I see that this is high up and decide to walk back into the classroom for a nap. I get blocked by Iruka-sensei and my eyes widen.

"If you can sing then why do you not talk?" He asks as he kneels down to my height.

"If people were to think that I can speak then I won't have an advantage over them." I whisper in his ear so no one can hear. "Pretending to be mute is a great strength." I pull away and smile. "Promise not to say anything?" I tilt my head hoping that he doesn't say anything to anyone.

He smiles and nods before standing up and we part ways. I go back to the classroom and lay down before taking a nap. As I sleep I smell my teammates walk into the room and I open my eyes. I see them all near the bottom of the classroom and I make a quick sign to 'teleport' to the teachers' desk to lie down.

"When did you get here?" King Silent Duckbutt asks confused and I smile cause I caught them off guard.

" **Been here sleeping. I ate a big breakfast so I skipped lunch."** I sign and Naruto translates for me because I know that he can't read my sign language.

"Is he ever coming?" Sakura groans as she leans against the table beside Saskue.

I smile as my natural canines grow lightly, " **Don't worry. As late as he is, I doubt that he will keep us here until tomorrow**."

Naruto jumps up with a smile and still as hyper as ever, "That's it! I know what to do!" I tilt my head and watch him as he grabs the chalk broader eraser. Then he stands on a chair before making it stay above the door with a very familiar glint hiding in his blue eyes.

Finally registering what he is up to, Sakura furrows her brows, "You're asking for trouble, Naruto!"

"Well, he's asking for it!" Naruto says snickering.

Saskue puts his chin on his fingers looking rather bored which is nothing new for him, "He's a Jonin. Why do you think he's going to fall for that cheap trick?"

I giggle lightly and smile as I nod, " **He's _so_ going to fall for it.**" I tense up as a familiar scent wafts in and I look to the doorway happily. I smile slightly, " **Well, he's here.** " I giggle lightly as the eraser lands straight on the familiar gravity defying spiky silver haired Jonin.

Naruto grins as he keeps pointing triumphantly at the victim, "Ahahaha, I got you good!"

"I'm so sorry, sensei. I told them not to do it!" Sakura says trying to apologize for us two.

The man speaks with slight irritation in his voice but in his scent he has a hint of amusement, "Hmm, my first impression of you guys... You're a bunch of idiots." I roll my eyes and use my wind again to teleport next to him. Kakashi's eyes soften up a little when he sees me and I smile as I can tell that the other three are staring at us. Kakashi ruffles my bangs and my beads making them clink together, "Good to see you, little one."

" **Good to see you too papa**." Using quickly so that Naruto can't translate to the others and he smiles behind his mask. The five of us walk up to the rooftop and we sit on the steps. My head in Naruto's lap and he starts petting my hair.

"Alright why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi says and I smirk, "One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves? Well what are we supposed to say?" Sakura asks and I roll my eyes.

"Things you like, things you hate, Dreams for the future, your hobbies. You know stuff like that." He says with a scent of interest around him.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean before we talk tell us about you so we know how it's supposed to work." Naruto says and I look up at him.

"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like...things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that." Kakashi says and I smirk, "My dream for the future never thought about that...my hobbies I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless all he really told us was his name." Sakura whispers.

"Okay Naruto, you start." Kakashi says and I raise my eyebrow.

"Believe it. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen that Iruka sensei got me at the ichiraku noodle shop. Oh and I really like when Maiko plays her shakuhachi. "He says and I pinch his thigh because no one was supposed to know that I actually did something right in my kunoichi classes. But I hate having to wait the three minutes you have to wait to pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobbies is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody."

"All right next." Kakashi says with a spike in the smell of his interest and I smile at him.

"I'm Sakura Haruno What I like… I mean the person I like…" She looks towards Saskue with a blushing face, and giggles almost every time. "My hobby is…" Stares at Saskue, and giggles again. "My dreams for the future are…" She giggles again and I growl in irritation over her damn giggles.

"What do you hate?" Kakashi-sensei says with a sigh.

"I hate NARUTO!" she says and I smell sadness from Naruto as I pat his knee and he plays with my beads to cheer up.

"My name is Saskue Uchiha...I hate a lot of things...and I don't particularly like anything...what I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality I'm going to restore my clan. And destroy a certain someone." King Silent Duckbutt says with a slight hint of hint mixed in with his anger.

"Last one" Kakashi says and I roll my eyes.

" **My name is Maiko Ōtsuki, I like many things. Too many to sign out for you but let's just say that I like sparring, music, dance, and the full moon. As for hobbies I have lots. The things I hate are Veggies, people hurting the innocent, and those who dare to threaten my family. My dream for the future is... hmm I never thought about it.** " I sign and as I stop in between sentences I let Naruto translate it for me.

"Good you're each unique and you have your own ideas." Kakashi says smiling at me behind his mask. "We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto says eagerly and I tilt my head wondering what he has in store for us.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together." Kakashi says.

"What is it?" Sakura asks and I was just about to sign it.

"A survival exercise." he says.

"Huh? Survival exercise?" Naruto asks a bit confused.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission." Sakura says with a hint of displeasure. "Not more practice, we already did this stuff at the academy that's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi says and I smile wondering if I'm able to use my wolf form since I have been it in for a couple of days.

"So uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asks as Kakashi started to chuckle darkly.

"What's so funny?" Saskue asks and I look to him.

"Well if I tell you the answer you're not going to like it." Kakashi says as his face darkens slightly. "Of the twenty-eight graduates who came here this year…only nine or ten will be accepted as genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This is a make or break it test. And the chance you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent." I feel the dread in the room, but I smile and I feel my inner self get all happy. "See didn't I tell you wouldn't like it." Kakashi says as he sees their faces.

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?" Naruto says and I growl in annoyance as he makes me sit up. I stretch and I bend backwards before standing on my hands with my legs above me before I do a flip.

"Oh that, that was to select candidates that _might_ become genin." Kakashi says. "That's how it is I decide whether you pass or fail, be at the designated training spot at five a.m. And bring your ninja gear. That's it. You're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow…you better skip breakfast, or else you'll puke." Kakashi says darkly and I roll my eyes.

I roll my eyes before we part ways and as I walk home I see that the sun is starting to set. I sigh and pull out my shakuhachi again and start playing a lullaby that I swear I have heard before, but I don't remember where. I get to my house with a smile on my face and I walk in expecting to see my cousins ANBU coyote and fox masks 'hidden' on one of the rafters. But they aren't. I look around and I get worried as my smile drops from my face. I start making dinner just in case they do come soon. About an hour passes and I hear a knock on my door. Before a familiar smell wafts in, I walk out of the kitchen and I see that Naruto came all the way over here. I smile and I open the door to see he brought a box of sweets with a dad look on his face.

"Sorry to just come over, but it felt too quiet and still at home. Can I join you for dinner KoKo?" He asks softly with weakness that I know that he doesn't like to show and I nod with a smile. "Thanks KoKo and I brought dessert." I nod and he walks over helping me with the Ramen while I'm cooking the beef strips, so we can get very full. He talks about how he tried to go home and tell someone about him getting my papa as a sensei. That's when reality hit him hard and since I'm his only friend he decided that he would come over here to see if he can join me. We finish off the dinner that was supposed to be for me and the twins then I have him stay over in the guest bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up with the moon still in the sky and despite what papa said yesterday I have to eat cause of the wolf inside of me. I wake up Naruto knowing that he needs a bit more sleep since he had a bit more sugar than me. Then Naruto and I meet up with the other two at the training spot. Naruto and Sakura are a bit tired while Saskue and I are up; well for me I'm normally up this early. As the sun starts shining brighter I growl as I start doing tricks off the three posts using only my flips that I usually do in my wolf form.

 ** _A few minutes pass noon_**

"Morning everyone " Kakashi says and I smile as I stretch, "Ready for your first day?"

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura exclaim in unison.

"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." Kakashi says pointing away from us and I nod at his reasoning's. "Well let's get started then." Kakashi says as he takes out a clock. "It's set for noon, your assignment is very simple you just have to take these bells from me." he shows us three bells that he is holding in his hand. "If you can't get them by noon, you'll go without lunch and you'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

"Wait a minute there's four of us so why are there's only three bells?" Sakura asks and I squint my eyes at him while I try to figure out his game.

"Well that way at least one of you would be tied up and ultimately disqualified for not completing the mission." Kakashi says as he acts all nonchalant like he usually does, "That one will be sent back to the academy then again all four of you would be sent back. You can use any weapon including shuriken; if you're not prepared to kill me then you're not going to be able to take the bells." I smile wide as I hear that and pull my braids in front of me.

"Those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura whine and I roll my eyes knowing he won't get hurt.

"Especially if you couldn't dodge that eraser." Naruto says with a tease in his eyes.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links you can safely ignore them." Kakashi says kinda rudely, "Lowest scores losers, when I saw start you can begin." Naruto gets angry as he pulls out a kunai knife and runs after Kakashi. In half a second, Kakashi uses his old ANBU speed and holds Naruto's arm with the kunai in the back of Naruto's neck. I can see that Fangirl and King Silent Duckbutt are amazed and I smile. "Don't be in such a hurry I didn't say start yet." Kakashi says with a smile quite obvious in his tone of voice. "But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me so how can I say this. I'm actually starting to like you guys ...get ready and start!"

In a flash the four of us disappear into the forest. I quickly put obvious traps that I know he won't go for, but I know the other ones that I have hidden when he discovers the obvious ones will catch him off guard. I then go over to where I smell Saskue and I sit on the branch next to him.

"Maiko? What are you doing?" He asks and I pull out a pencil and a piece of paper.

I quickly write down, 'I don't think we should attack him one on one. I think this is about teamwork.' He rolls his eyes after reading it and pushes me aside.

"Leave me alone. I need to get one of those bells." He growls out and I return with my own growl before I use my wind to teleport somewhere else. I roll my eyes before changing direction to go to Sakura's bush. I give her my note and I motion for her to read it.

She looks at me and whispers "Are you sure? Have you asked Saskue about this?" I roll my eyes and growl as if saying he brushed me off. "Oh then maybe we should just stay to ourselves so maybe we can actually grab one or two of them." I roll my eyes and I get to a high point in a tree on the opposite side.

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." Kakashi's voice rings out through the training ground and I smile. I see him turn to see Naruto a few feet away from him.

"You and me right now! Fair and square!" Naruto say loudly and I give myself a face palm, "Let's go!" Kakashi wasn't fazed by Naruto's declaration of fighting him one on one and I growl lightly in annoyance.

"You know compared to the others you're a little bit weird." Kakashi says, "But I won't hold back even if you're the little one's friend."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaims, "The only thing weird here if your haircut!" He starts running towards Kakashi but is stopped when Kakashi shoves his hand into his pouch.

"Shinobi battle techniques part one taijutsu, the physical part." Kakashi says before he pulls out an orange book labeled 'Make out Paradise'. I roll my eyes and I shake my head.

"What the…?" Naruto says he is shocked that Kakashi took out the perverted book which he won't let me read even when I find his stash of books.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Kakashi says as he starts to read the book. "Make your move."

"But why are you reading that book?" Naruto asks as he is confused at this and I can tell that the other two are as well.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course." he says, "Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever."

Naruto gets mad as he charges at Kakashi. "I'm going to crush you!" He says angrily. He tries to hit at Kakashi only to have his fist stopped by Kakashi. Naruto quickly switches into a kick. Kakashi ducks underneath the kick while his eyes never leave the book. Naruto then throws a punch. "Now, you're mine!" he shouts as his fist quickly gets closer. However, he blinks in confusion to see that he had just vanished.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time" Kakashi says as he closes his book.

"Naruto get out of there quick!" Sakura shouts and my eyes widen cause of her give out her position, "He's going to destroy you!"

"Too late." Kakashi says. "Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu…" He pokes Naruto's butt. "…A Thousand Years of Death." He sends Naruto soaring through the air. I try not to laugh as I watch him fly into the river because of papa' prank. "Okay where was I?" Kakashi says as he reopens his book to continue reading. From the river Naruto throws two shurikens went up above the water aims them at Kakashi; He catches them without even looking away from his book. I roll my eyes and I quickly transform into my wolf form before using my enhanced speed to go over where my traps are. I double check them as I hear that there's another fight and I'm guessing that it's going on between King Silent Duckbutt. I roll my eyes before I make a shadow clone and reinforce it with my chakra. I smile before masking my scent, chakra, and my body as I hide in a nearby Wolfsbane bush. My shadow clone finishes up one of the obvious traps as Kakashi walks up.

" **Hey papa, how was your fight**?" My shadow clone asks as she signs to him.

"It was unfulfilling. Care to help with that without having to use the traps you set up?" He asks and she smirks before nodding as he moves the obvious one and sets off the other one. It launches a barrage of kunai knives and as he gets distracted by those ones he sets off an obvious net. "Really little one?"

She giggles and winks as he steps on a chakra ignited trap that makes his feet stick to the ground, " **I had to. I tried to tell the others to help, but they didn't listen to me. Probably because they wanted to excel by themselves**." She signs as I come up slowly to exchange the real bells with some nuts I transformed into them. I smile as I get away without them making a sound and as he breaks free he cancels out my clone.

"Very sneaky." Then the alarm starts ringing meaning that time was up and I start running back to the posts. That's when I see that Naruto is tied to the middle post. I tilt my head before I change back into my human self, so the others don't see it since none of them know about my Okami form. I blush as my stomach and the others start growling loudly. "Uh oh, stomachs growling huh? That's too bad, Oh by the way about this exercise I decided I won't send anyone back to the academy instead you'll be dropped out of the program."

"That means we can never become ninja!" Naruto exclaims and I let out a growl letting my anger at my stupid teammates and distrust at him leak through, "Why would you do that?!"

"Because you don't think like ninja." Kakashi says, "You think like little kids. Well not all of you think like that." He looks over at me and I stop my growling. I fix my bangs and look down as I put my hand into my pocket. That's the moment when Saskue runs full tilt at Kakashi was holding Saskue to the ground on his stomach with Kakashi holding his arm behind his back and his leg pressed against Saskue's head.

"You think it's all about you?" Kakashi says in a dark hiss as he is close to Sasuke's head pushing out waves of Killing Intent to get his point across to the stubborn guy.

"Let go of Saskue! You can't step on him like he's some bug!" Sakura exclaims and I roll my eyes at her screeching.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja." Kakashi says, "You think it's a game huh? Why did you think we put you on squads? Did you think about that for a moment?"

"I-I don't what you mean." Sakura says with confusion written all over her face and I face palm.

" **I told both you and King DuckButt!** " I sign angrily letting out a growl before Kakashi nods making me stop and my anger surges.

"I mean, you never came to the conclusion on what this training is all about. Not even close… Well, one of you did." he says and I cross my arms as I feel my nails growing against my palms in anger that they didn't listen to me. "That's what it's determined if you pass or fail."

"I wanted to ask you that from the beginning." Sakura says as I lick the small crescent moons of my light gold blood off my palms.

"Use your head three people or four on a squad, why do you think we make them like that for all these years?" Kakashi asks in his serious tone that usually scares some people. "If all four of you were to come at me you might have been able to take them."

"You set it up with four people, but three bells. Even if we did work together, only three of us could get a bell. The last one wouldn't have one, which would lead to group conflict and the squad would break up." Sakura says trying to be smart and I put my hand into my pocket gripping the bells. The cool metal cooling off my anger slightly.

"Exactly I purposely pitted you against each other, I wanted to see if you could overcome that and out the squads ahead of yourselves " Kakashi says, "A genin should have a natural feel for team work but you haven't even crossed your mind. Sakura you obsessed about Saskue who was gone while Naruto was in front of you and you wouldn't lift a finger to help him. Naruto you do everything on your own. Everything, you Saskue you think that everyone was far beneath you that they were worthless. And you Miako you tend to let a clone do everything so you can just use stealth instead of a fight. You can't always do that just in case someone was watching you do your justu."

I raise my eyebrow and smirk before pulling out all three bells, " **Looking for these?** " I sign with on one hand and everyone's eyes widen.

"How did you? But I have them right here." He pulls out the fake ones from his belt loop and I wink letting them transform back into nuts being held up by little vines. His visible eye widens slightly as he stares at me and then the fake bells. "I didn't even feel you take them." He whispers and I smile before throwing them back to you.

" **Here you go papa.** " I sign making everyone shake off their shock and I smile happily.

"Anyways. Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course you need individual skills; nonetheless, teamwork is absolutely crucial. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves over the squad…this could lead to failure or worse…death. For example…" He takes out a kunai and places the sharp tip against Saskue's throat. "…Sakura! Kill Naruto now or Saskue will die!" I tense up and am about to pounce while transforming to save Duck Butt. Kakashi puts the weapon away and I pull myself back. "That's what happens on a mission. The enemy takes a hostage, and you have an impossible choice and someone ends up dead. On every mission, your life is on the line." Kakashi says as he gets up and walks towards a memorial stone. My heart drops and I remember a time around spring where he used to wake up with a scream. I would walk to his room and cuddle with him in my wolf form. He would cry to me and me only about how he killed the girl he and he best friend loved because she was a Jinchūriki and people were going to release it. I just let my silence and presence comfort him. "Did you look at this stone?" he asks as I try not to cry and I teleport over to him. I put my hand on his forearm, "The names engraved on it? They are all ninjas who are honored as heroes in our village."

"That's it! That's it! "Naruto shouts and I look over at him with tears wanting to escape. "I've decided that I'm going to have my name engraved on that stone. I'm not going to live and die like a dog! I'm going to be a hero!"

"They are…a special kind of hero." He says softly as I nuzzle my head on his arm.

"Huh? What kind of heroes are they? Come on! Tell us! Well, well…!" Naruto says excitedly.

" **They are all… K.I.A**." I turn to sign to him sadly.

"That's sounds cool." Naruto says and I look at Sakura.

"It means killed in action… They died in action." She says as the mood becomes a little gloomy and depressed.

"This is a memorial stone, the names of my closest friends are in here" Kakashi says as he put his hand on the top of my head and pets me slightly. "All right I'm going to give you one last chance." Kakashi says before turning around and I walk back over, "Although, I'm going to make it much harder on you. You will have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build up strength. But, Naruto doesn't get any. It's punishment for breaking the rules and eating by yourself. And if any of you feed him any that person will fail. I make the rules you follow them got it." After Kakashi leaves and we start eating our lunch before I look around and I start feeding Naruto.

"Maiko! That's against the rules!" Sakura says, "You heard what he said!"

I smirk and give her a wink as Saskue gets at what I'm trying to do, "Kakashi's gone we need to get those bells as a team." Saskue says as he holds out his lunch as well, "If Naruto's hungry he'll be weak and ineffective, that hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission." Sakura does the same and I smile.

"Don't thank me. Just hurry up and eat." Sakura says.

"But isn't that your lunch?" Naruto asks.

"I-I'm on a diet. I-I mean…I don't eat as much as Saskue or Maiko. Just take it, Naruto!" She says

"I can't take it," he says as his tied up hands wiggle. "you gotta feed it to me."

"What are you waiting for?" Saskue says. "He could be here any minute."

Suddenly, smoke started to appear and the breeze picked up quickly and roughly. I roll my eyes knowing that its papa and I keep feeding Naruto.

"YOU!" Kakashi pops out angrily the air feels electrified around him. "You four broke the rules. Are you ready for your punishment?" He does a hand sign, and then thunderclouds begin to appear. "Any last words?" He says ominously and I roll my eyes as the three of them quiver in fear.

"B-but you said…" Naruto begins to speak.

"Yes?" Kakashi urges him to continue.

"You said that there were four of us for a reason! That's what you said…! And that's why…Maiko …Sakura…and Saskue..."

"We're all on this squad! And we're all in this together!" Saskue says and I smirk.

"Yeah, we gave our lunches to him because the four of us are one!" Sakura says as I turn around with a smile on my face.

" **The rules can suck it! I gave my lunch to him and I will never regret feeding a pack mate!** " I sign out and he smirks behind the mask.

"The four of you, are one?" He says knowing that I don't let just anyone into my pack as he walks up to us menacingly. "That's your excuse? Hmm, you pass." Kakashi's mood changes at the drop of a hat.

"Huh?" The three of them say and I tilt my head looking at him.

"You…passed…" he repeats, more slowly and I look at him kinda confused.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questions even more unsure. "How'd we pass?"

"You're the first quad that ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those we break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He says and I nod.

"He's..." Naruto tries to say. "He's kind of cool."

"The exercise is over. Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow. Let's go home." He says as Kakashi starts walking away as we follow right behind him.

"Hey! You guys forgot to untie me!" Naruto yells irritated before I run back and untie him apologetically. "You owe me some food KoKo!"


	4. Chapter 4

**TIME JUMP**

After a seven months of missions and our first C ranked return Tazuna to finish his bridge. It ended with my showing off my Wolfsbane whip and forest to try and free Duckbutt and me from the mirror prison that Haku put us in. Then I swear that I saw Naruto with a red chakra with fox like features, but I was losing a lot of blood. So that may not have been true. Haku saved Zabuza from a chidori to the heart, before Zabuza killed Gato in a change of heart since he disgraced the dead Haku. We buried them both overlooking a beautiful sunset on the ocean. On that cliff, Naruto, Duckbutt, Sakura, and I vowed to find our own ninja way instead of following after everyone else. Now since my cousins are still not back and Izumo/Kotetsu have been staying over. I am really starting to get worried. Sure my 'older brothers' stay over and help me keep my house in order and so does Naruto along with my boys, but I miss howling with them when it's the full moon. Right now, I'm having training with the team, sparring as much as we can so we can learn one another's moves to improve on them. As I'm mid-flip in the air, I smell an unknown smell and I toss out my whip before I see I almost kill a man with my Wolfsbane vine. The whip is wrapped around his arm twice with his head out of the way and my entire face practically turns into a tomato.

" **Oh my Kami! I am so sorry. You frightened me while we were sparring**." I sign after I dismiss the whip and let King Silent Duck butt translate for me. ( _Since i doubt that he knows sign._ )

"So you are Maiko Ōtsuki, heiress to the clan, and cousin to Taro and Ginro?" The ANBU ninja says solemnly and I feel the air around us thicken and I feel it making my heartbeat faster.

I nod and he looks down at me making me gulp, " **What happened?** " I sign letting Sakura translate as the boys are eating their lunch.

Sakura grips my hand and Kakashi puts his hand on my head, "I am sad to report that Taro and Ginro Ōtsuki have been KIA on a mission." I gasp and my heart drops before he hands me their masks, weapons, and the pictures of us that I had sewn into their bags. He leaves us and all around me feels like everything has gone dull. My eyes start watering before I pull the items to my chest and my heart feels like its breaking. My knees wobble for a bit before I fall to my knees and I dig my claws into the ground. As my sadness bursting out as I let out a loud heart wrenching howl.

"Taro! Ginro!" I yell out in agony and grief. My tears falling down my face as my howl and scream spreads out throughout the village with my wind chakra pushing it out while I hold their stuff to my chest. I keep crying as I fall over and cry my eyes out as the ground around me cracks cause of my earth chakra getting out of control. My inner wolf is howling wanting vengeance on whomever killed the twins, but is drowned out by ultimate sorrow. As I quiet down, but I do not stop crying I hear people running to us. I hear and smell my boys and my 'older' brothers as I sob into their masks.

"What was that?" I hear Shikamaru and Kiba ask and I feel myself being picked up. I smell Izumo and I curl into his arms.

"She just received a message that said her cousins were KIA." Naruto says sadly and I feel Izumo rocking me trying to calm my silent sobbing. I curl into his hold as I hold onto his vest digging my claws in.

"Oh no." I hear the four of them say softly as I smell Kotetsu walking closer.

"Let's get her home. She needs some rest." Kotetsu says softly before I feel us walking.

"Take her home. We won't have training in until after their funeral and their stone markings." Kakashi says softly before I pass out because of using all my wind and earth chakra strength.

 **Time jump**

Another month goes by with my boys coming by and helping me out around the house. They make me eat and bath and change pajama's since I don't do anything except commit their scents to memory. Sometimes having them around helps me not feel so alone. While other times it doesn't, those times all I do is I have to pack up all of their stuff reliving memories. My tears never stop as I pack up the boxes. In doing so I find a small bag filled with different beads from our old village. Inside with the bag there is also some tattoo papers with ointments and other herbs. I keep their masks above my bed with their Kanji names with the crescent moons engraved behind them.

I growl in annoyance at myself for mourning for so damn long and I decide that I'm going to go be with my team. I walk into my bathroom and take a shower before immediately braid my wet hair. I pull on my clothes quickly and I look at myself in the mirror. I grab the makeup that I bought for the day of the dead celebration and I line my eyes to make them look bigger and look more wolfish than they already do. I grab the tube of mascara and make my eyelashes fan out. I grab Ginro's silver double crescent necklace and Taro's Wolfsbane ashes that were made into a silver ear cuff. I put them all on and smile softly as I feel a weight slide off my chest. I walk out after giving the twins masks a kiss on the cheek before I go to the training area. The sun not yet up and I start doing some laps ignoring the pain in my heart.

"I thought Kakashi said for you to take this month off too?" I hear Naruto say behind me and I stop before looking over at him. I see his face trying to look stern and I give him a hug. He puts his forehead on mine before looking me over obviously happy that I'm out of my house.

" **I need to keep my muscle strength up or else I won't get stronger** **. So I can find who killed them."** I sign to him and he nods.

"Let's go get some food and then we can get back to training if you'd like." He says sincerely and I nod before using my wind to get all of my sweat off. We walk over to BBQ and we eat in silence. Which being silent is quite weird especially for Naruto and I decide to throw some veggies at his face. He catches them and we start giggling before he starts talking about how much the team felt off without me there. Then after breakfast we're walking back to the training ground when we get stopped by Sakura saying that we have a mission. We follow her to the clients' house and it's my favorite thing. Which is to walk dogs since I transform into my wolf they are very calm around me for some reason. When we get to the house Naruto chooses the bigger bulldog and I roll my eyes before the biggest Akita comes over and hands me his leash.

"Hey wait we're supposed to go the other way!" Naruto says as he tries to hold onto the leash, but the dog is quite literally dragging Naruto through a minefield. I smile as I watch him and let the Akita wander without his leash. I whistle softly and he comes back offering the leash back to me.

"What a loser." Saskue says.

"Of course, he just had to choose the biggest dog." Sakura replies.

" **I warned him, but he didn't listen right little guy**?" I sign to the others and they nod before the Akita rubs against my legs like a cat would.

"Ah stop your pulling you're not supposed to go over there! That place is a mine field!" Naruto yell as he struggles to the dogs leash as the dog doesn't listen to him as the dog ventures into the booby trap area. As we watch Naruto get dragged inside the area and then a little bit later a small explosion poofs out. I shake my head as Sakura and Saskue let out a sigh as well and as they come back out. The bulldog is spotless while Naruto is the one that looks like he's been beaten up like the fight with Zabuza and Haku.

"Look at you, you're hopeless Naruto, time and time again Mai warned you, but you didn't listen to her" Sakura says as we help him walk and I let the Akita hold onto the bulldogs' leash.

"You really are just one big problem for her aren't you Naruto? Loser." Saskue says as he smirks and I whistle lowly to tell Akita to follow us.

We give the dogs back and we stop near Sugar wheels to grab some candy for me. Kakashi sighs; I look up to see him rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess we're not making a lot of progress on the team work." Kakashi says and I nod looking over at the rest of the team.

"That's right our team work is all out of whack because of you Saskue!" Naruto yells out as he stops us from helping him you think you're better than everyone else!"

"Not everyone, just you face it. I'm better and stronger than you are" Saskue says as he starts walking away. "It's a fact." as he turns his head while glaring at Naruto, "Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong." As the two boys have a staring contest waiting for each other to make the first move Sakura and I eat the strawberry gummies while watching them.

As Kakashi looks up I look up as well and see a hawk flying in the sky. "All right guys, let's call it a day you can beat each other to a pulp some other time." Kakashi says, "Anyway I have to file my report on this mission."

"Whatever I'm outta here." Saskue says before breaking eye contact to walk away from us.

"Wait! Saskue! I'll go with you!" Sakura says as she runs up to him. As Naruto has a deadpan expression on his face as I pat his forearm to have him get his usual smile back on his face.

" **You know, Naruto I think what feelings you have for Sakura might not work out. She is way into being Saskue's fangirl**." I sign to him and he drops his head.

"I...But...Mai..." Naruto says as he looks after Sakura and Saskue. Sakura comes back and I buy the both of them some sweets. Before I could sign back to him to help him out I hear a familiar voice and I see that Naruto left me in an instant, "You better put him down right now!" I growl in annoyance and I follow his Ramen scent before I find him, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi with Naruto seething. I see that Konohamaru is a good two feet of the ground cause of a really tall guy with cat ears on his head and behind Kitty, is a girl with a giant fan on her back.

"We got a few minutes until he gets here, let's mess with these punks huh." the cat eared guy says and I growl at him.

"Let go of me you jerk!" Konohamaru says as he struggles in Kitty's gr

"You're feisty, but not for long." He says and I can tell Naruto's anger spiked.

"Put him down!" Naruto yells out as he runs after Kitty, but as he gets close he gets pushed back and I growl. "What was that?!"

"You leaf genin too, looks like your village is full of wimps." Kitty says and I slowly walk up next to the kids and Sakura. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looks at me.

"Hey cut it out. It hurts!" Konohamaru says as I tense up.

"That's it! Drop him now or I'll take you apart! You got that fool!" Naruto says angrily before I pull him into a chokehold and let her talk to him.

"You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help Naruto!" Sakura exclaims in his ear.

"You're annoying, all of you." he says and I let go of Naruto before subtly making hand signs behind my back feeling the vine wrap around my wrist. "I don't like runts or scrawny weaklings, so when a wimp like this starts shooting of its mouth. I just wanna break him in half."

"Fine, I'm not involved in any of this okay." the girl with the fan says as I let the whip wrap around my right hand and I get ready to strike.

"First, I'll take care of him then the other one." he says as he starts moving to hit Konohamaru and I automatically use my whip to wrap around his wrist while a rock hits the wrist holding Konohamaru. At that moment the little guy is dropped as he sees that a rock and my whip are what caused him not to hit the little guy. I smirk and I see the fan girl looking at me curiously as if seeing that I was there for the first time.

"You're a long way from home and out of your league." I hear Saskue say and I see that he was the one that threw the rock from a tree branch.

"Saskue!" Sakura exclaims as she blushes and I roll my eyes.

"Naruto!" Konohamaru says as he runs to his friend but gives me a hug first. I look down at him and nod before tilting my head.

He smiles and nods, "I'm alright!" Konohamaru says softly before I nod after pulling my whip back, so it can coil at my feet.

"Aw great two more to tick me off" he says as he glared between the two of us.

"Get lost." Saskue said as he crushes a pebble.

" **Walk away purple kitty. You're annoying me.** "I sign to them and let Sakura translate for me before I pop in some gummy strawberries. Udon and Moegi grab a hold of the back of my shirt and I smile softly at them with my eyes as I can tell they are star struck.

Konohamaru points at Naruto, "How come you're not cool like them!" Konohamaru says angrily and I smirk as I let my chakra move my whip to act like a cat's lazy sway of their tail.

"Ah don't be like that I could've taken that guy out two seconds flat." Naruto says and I smirk.

"Hey punk! You get down here." Kitty says and I roll my eyes as I see the girl with the fan staring at my turquoise chakra infused whip. Saskue just glares down at him as I keep eating my gummies, "You're the kind that I hate the most, all attitudes and nothing to back it up." He says as he starts to take the bag off his back.

"What? Are you gonna use the Crow for this?!" She says in a scared tone.

"Kankuro...Back off." a cold voice says and my wolf's bloodlust goes off a little before I glance at where the voice came from. I look up at the branch next to Saskue to see a boy upside. The boy is around the same age as Naruto and I as far as I can tell. He has fair skin, sea foam green eyes, and short red hair. He has no distinctive pupils or eyebrows from this distance with black rings around his eyes almost like makeup. Plus he has a tattoo on the left side of his forehead and I see that it might say love? "You're an embarrassment to our village." the red headed boy says with an underlying threat in his voice.

"H-Hey Gaara." Kitty aka Kankuro says with fear in his voice and I dismiss my whip. As Gaara glances at Saskue then at me. His eyes reveal a glint of curiosity while my heartbeats a bit faster.

"Have you forgotten the reason why we're here?" Gaara says and I raise my eyebrow as I start replenishing my chakra.

"I know...I-well they challenged us." Kankuro says, "Here's what happened."

"Shut up." he says without any emotion and that makes Kankuro stop talking. "Or I'll kill you."

"Right...I was totally out of line...totally out of line." Kankuro says as I can tell that he and the girl with the fan are very afraid of this Gaara. I take in his features and I try to hide my blush.

"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." Gaara apologizes to us. He looks at Saskue with an assessing look then at me. As he uses sand to get himself down from the tree as he reunites with his team mates.

"Let's go." Gaara says, "We didn't come here to play games."

"All right sure I get it." Kankuro says and I raise my eyebrow at the sudden submission of the older boy.

"Hold on!" Sakura says as they ignore her and keep walking. I growl and use my earth chakra to make a wall to stop them from continuing on.

" **Pay attention. You're in our village**." I sign out with a growl and let Saskue translate for me.

"What?" The girl with the fan says and I smile as I cross my arms.

" **From your headband you guys are from another Village right?** " I sign out and they tilt their head as Naruto translates. " **Probably from the Hidden Village in the Sand.** "

"You're right on that." Sakura says and I pop some more gummies into my mouth, "The land of fire and the land of wind are allies, no shinobi can enter another's village without permission, so state your purpose and it better be good." I smile at her confidence in her words and they look at us confused.

"Really? Have you guys been living under a rock or what?" She says and I look at her with a deadpan face, "You don't know what's going on do you?"

" **We were dealing the deaths of my cousins.** " I sign out to them and Sakura pats my shoulder.

"We have permission." she says showing an ID with the sign permission. "Of course you're correct we are hidden sand genin our home is the land of the wind. And we're here for the Chunin Exams get the picture."

"The Chunin Exams what's that?" Naruto asks and I face palm myself.

"I believe that he's totally clueless." the girl with the fan says as she puts their permission in her pocket.

" **You got that right**." I sign quickly, " **Those are the Exams that genin take to be a full grown Chunin.** "

"She's right Boss." Konohamaru says and I smile at the kid.

"Oh really then why didn't you say so! I am so there!" Naruto exclaims as I let the wall leave and the sand ninja walk away.

"Hey you!" Saskue says loudly, "Identify yourself."

"Hm? You mean me?" The girl with the fan asks and I smile seeing that he accidentally gained another fangirl, but this time she's a year older.

"No, him the guy with the gourd on his back." Saskue says and he turns around looking at Saskue.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert, I'm curious about you too, and who are you?" He asks.

"I am Saskue Uchiha." Saskue says and he turns to me.

"What about you? The Mute Girl?" He asks and I nod over to Sakura.

"Her name is Maiko Ōtsuki." Sakura says for me and for some reason he bows to me before coming back up to analyze me. As he stares at me I see the slightest hint of a blush before he moves back to Saskue. As everything is quiet, a breeze decides to caress us.

"Hey I bet your dying to know my name right?" Naruto asks cockily and I roll my eyes.

"Actually I couldn't care less." Gaara says before walking away and I smile lightly before I move my braids to my back.

"Hey Konohamaru, do I seem uncool or something?" Naruto asks as he has a deadpan expression and I give Udon and Moegi the rest of my candy.

"Well compared to Saskue yeah you're pretty lame." Konohamaru says and I smile.

"Ahh you're not gonna show me up Saskue!" Naruto exclaims and I roll my eyes. Unknown to the ones who don't have semi good hearing I hear four other voices that I have never heard before.

"What do you think Dosu?"

"The usual weaklings nothing special, but the one from the Uchiha clan, the mute girl, and that desert brat we should watch them carefully." Who am I guessing is this Dosu says and as we all part ways I look around to find something that is off. I squint my eyes near the tree a ways off and I tilt my head. I shrug my shoulders before I decide to go over to the Inuzuka household with some groceries. I knock on their door and I smile as Kiba's mom opens up.

" **I brought the stuff I need to make my barbecue ribs.** " I sign and she smiles at me while grabbing a bag from me.

"I'll help you out. Kiba is helping Hana at the Veterinary hospital." I nod as we go to her kitchen and we start getting everything ready. She starts talking about how one of her wolf dogs is pregnant and how she's going to give birth soon. I smile and ask if I can help take care of the pups. "Of course and if one takes a liking to you, you can have a pup." She says as we mix the barbecue sauce with the seasonings while the door opens up.

"Hey mom! We're home! What's for dinner?" I hear Hana say as her wolf dogs and Akamaru come running in after them.

"Mom. Why do I smell-" I hear Kiba and I smirk as he comes around the corner looking really confused. "Mai!? What are you doing here?"

" **Making barbecue ribs for dinner.** " I sign to him and I see that his jacket is off. I gulp lightly as I see that he has some muscles under his black shirt and I blush as he takes his shirt off. " **Kiba! You smell like wet dog.** " He chuckles and tries to give me a hug. I start running and he manages to use more of his chakra to speed up.

"Gotcha!" He catches me and pins me against the ground. "Aww you don't want a hug from me? I thought you were my best friend?" He pouts before giving me a hug and rubbing his sweat all over me. I whine and I try to push him off me.

"Kiba! Go wash off and leave the poor girl alone. Maiko you can use my washroom and I'll bring some clothes while you give me yours." I look up to see Kiba's mom smirking down at us while Kiba is rubbing his sweaty face on my neck. "Kiba stop marking Maiko." I giggle and stick my tongue out at him before he growls playfully. "Kiba get off the poor girl." I slip out from under him and I stand up next to her and she pushes me to her bathroom.

"Mom you're always embarrassing me." He whines and I giggle softly before washing up and keeping my hair down in waves before I come out in a towel. I see Hana in the room and she smiles.

"Mom told me to give you a pair of Kiba's shorts and one of his shirts until yours are dry." I nod as I pull my underclothes on and after she helps me brush out my hair. "There. Now you don't smell like Kiba sweat anymore although you could have slide out at any time couldn't you?" My eyes widen and I blush.

" **No, your mom distracted him so that's when I was able to slip out.** " I sign to her hiding my blushing cheeks before she rubs the top of my head.

"Don't worry I can keep this secret." She says before we walk down and I see Kiba not wearing a shirt again with Akamaru on the top of his head.

"The ribs will be done in a bit." Their mom looks over at us and smiles sweetly, "Aww you look gorgeous with your hair down. You should wear it like this more." I see Kiba staring at me with a glazed look and his cheeks slightly pink or is that from his shower.

"Yeah. Mom's right. It looks good down." He says as he walks over and weaves his fingers through my hair looking thoroughly enchanted. "Your hair is really soft." He whispers softly and I blush lightly. He pulls away and we quickly eat through our food. We rest on the couch with me on Kiba's chest and Akamaru on me. Kiba's right hand weaved in my hair and his other hand on my left hip. I close my eyes as I feel his lips on my head. My hands on his back while my head is over his slow beating heart with a soft smile on my face.

 **The next day-Monday**

I get to our meeting spot on the bridge and I'm still braiding my hair since Kiba decided that he wouldn't let me get up earlier without giving him a kiss on the cheek. I lay down on the railing as we wait for papa to get here since he apparently has important news to tell us.

"Why? Why? Why? It's always the same!" Sakura exclaims and I yawn, "He sets the time and we have to wait hours for him!"

"Yeah it's not fair!" Naruto agrees as I roll my eyes and close them to relax.

"What about my feelings?!" Sakura exclaims, "I rushed out here, so fast I didn't even have time to blow dry my hair!"

"I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto says and I blush as I still smell of Kiba and shake my head.

"You uh didn't? That's very disgusting Naruto." Sakura says as I plug my nose.

" **Naruto...that's really gross...** " I sign to him as a sudden though of Gaara from yesterday pops up and I scrunch my eyebrows.

"Hey everyone!" Kakashi says as he appears, "Sorry I'm late I'm afraid I got lost in the path of life."

" **I can understand that papa**." I sign knowing that he likes to stop and smell the roses every now and again.

"You liar!" Sakura and Naruto exclaim loudly and I smile softly.

"I know this is a bit sudden but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams all four of you." Kakashi says, "These are the application forms," as he hands us the papers and my smile grows as I see all my info on it. "This is all voluntary if you don't feel ready you can wait next year."

"All right! Kakashi sensei you're the best!" Naruto says as he attacks him with a hug.

"Hey! Don't slobber on my vest!" Kakashi says as I smile before him a hug and he pets my hair. "Just sign these papers if you want to take the Exams it's in room 301 at the Academy five days from now." After a few minutes we walk away from papa and we go our separate ways excited to tell anyone.

I go home and my excitement deflates as the silence of my house grips my heart. "I almost forgot." I say softly as I lock my door and get dressed in a night gown. I let my hair down and as I cook some ramen and meats. I hear my door get knocked on and scrunch my eyebrows together. I put my Ramen in a bowl before walking over to see Shikamaru. I open my door, "Hey Shikamaru. What are you doing here?" I ask and I see his shocked face.

"I thought you couldn't talk." He asks and I growl at myself for forgetting to sign.

"I can, but I try not to." "This is the second time someone has caught me off guard." I say before pulling him into my house and he starts blushing automatically. "What?"

"Uh you're wearing a night gown." I roll my eyes at his male mind trying not to stare at my chest that I usually bind so I don't get stared at. I grab my robe and put it on. "Anyways I came over to tell you that my team got recommended to do the Chunin exams."

"We did too." I say with a smile and I see his shocked look. "You gonna sleep over or go back home?"

"I actually have to head home, mom and dad want to make sure I get a good dinner before me and the team decides if we're going to actually do them or wait till next year." He says and I nod before opening the door.

"I'll see you later for your mom's birthday dinner tomorrow." He nods and kisses my cheek near my lips before leaving in a hurry. I blush as I touch my cheek and I shake it out of my head before I go heat up my Ramen with my TV on.

"Why'd he kiss me?" I whisper as I watch TV and I shake my head before I put my dishes into the sink. I go up to my room and I fall asleep wondering why Shika kissed me.

Since today is one of our day off, I decide to go over to the top of the Hokage's faces after having breakfast, and I sit down to look over the village with my shakuhachi. As I start playing my instrument I hear running footsteps and I use my burst of speed to jump over the ninja from another village. I get a whiff of a familiar scent on the slight breeze and I roll my eyes knowing that he knows my sense of smell is better than the Inuzuka's which requires chakra built up there.

"So tell me tall one. Why are you stalking me?" I ask using my real voice and put my shakuhachi away before letting my nails grow out like on my wolf form. I wink at him, "You got a crush on little ol jailbait me?"

The man grunts angrily as he pulls out a kunai knife and get into position, "How about you just give me the scrolls from your old clan." My eyes widen and I falter slightly.

"Those scrolls are for my family only. If you even try to read them you'd die..." I say as I slyly create a clone behind him as a breeze conceals my hands with my hair. She sneaks up behind him and pushes him towards me before I wrestle him to the ground. I use my Wolfsbane handcuff prison justu to make sure he doesn't try to get free. I get a hint of another scent and I smirk as this version turns into a substitute. I turn around and put one set of my claws at his throat with the other set on his hand.

A deep chuckle comes from him and I smirk as I let him go, "The Chunin Exams aren't going to be so smooth, you know."

I shrug as we both put our weapons away, "I never said that they would be smooth. Anyone that thinks that will get killed, Iruka-sensei." I say as his disguise poofs away and I smile.

"I forgot that I can't fool your nose." He says with a chuckle and I smile. "Be careful in the exam." I nod and he leaves before I smirk as I walk over to the edge looking at the village.

"Don't worry. I maybe a lousy healing kunoichi, but I have lady luck on my side." I jump up smiling. "Bring the Exams on!"

After relaxing there for a while until sunset, I start walking towards Shika's place before I buy a present for his mom and I quickly head him before I wrap it. I walk over and I knock on the door revealing Shikaku, Shika's dad. I smile, "You're just in time." He motions me in and I walk in.

" **Where's the birthday girl?** " I sign to him and he motions to the dining room. I nod and walk over to see her and Shika, Choji, Ino, and I'm guessing their team leader are all sitting down.

"Ah! There's my gorgeous future daughter in law..." I blush ten different shades of red and so does Shika. I shake my head as she stands up and walks over to me with a smile on her face. I pass her my gift and smile as Ino's dad and Choji's parents coming bringing out the food.

" **It's tradition in my family to give the matriarch a silver kimono with an obsidian blade.** " I sign with a smile before I bite my lip as she rubs the red ribbon. " **This is as close as I can get to it**." She smiles before opening it to reveal a blue, white, and silver silk kimono under a black half sword. On the half sword is silver and blue leather with a twin crescent moon symbol on the hilt.

"Oh darling Ko, this is way too much." She says with tears in her eyes and she tries to give it back. I put my hands up and shake my head no with a stern look on my face.

" **No it's not too much. You and Tsume Inuzuka have been like mothers too me, so it's fair that you two get her twin blade.** " I sign to her and I hear Shika translating to his team and his team captain. She smiles and gives me a hug before her and Shikaku make me sit down next to Shika. He pulls me into a side hug and kisses my cheek like usual.

"Ino, Choji, you know Maiko from the academy." Shika introduces me and I smile at them both as Choji smiles sweetly at me while Ino glares. "Asuma-Sensei, this is my best friend Maiko Ōtsuki."

"You're one of the kids that were staying with Kakashi?" He asks as he tries to pull out a cigarette and the matriarch takes it away from him before he can light it.

" **I am. So you have any embarrassing stories about Shika during training?** " I sign to him and Shikaku translates as Shika tries to cover my ears. I smile and push his hands away and that's how all three of them tell us funny stuff that Shika did. They tell us that he ate some bad berries on the way to a mission and he ended up dancing. We end up laughing as Shika stuffs his face with food. " **Oh should I tell them about the time that you walked in on...** " I start signing and he pins my hands to the table with only one hand.

"Tell them that story and I'll tell them the time during the hunters' moon." My eyes widen and I glare at him. He smirks and leans in, "Oh I would." I pout and I see everyone staring before giving up with a growl.

"Have these two always been like this Shikaku?" Asuma asks and the parents chuckle as I try getting my wrists free of his iron grip.

"Ever since they met at the Academy." Shikaku says with a smile.

"I swear all of us have had a betting pool on when he or Kiba are going to ask her out." Chōza says with a chuckle and Ino's mom comes in from her late shift at their flower shop.

"Are we talking about the Shika-Mai-Kiba betting pool?" She asks and the four of us look up confused and we blink as the adults smile.

"What?" They all say as I make a little curious sound and my wrists get free as Ino's mom sits down and starts eating. "Why haven't we heard about this?" Ino and Choji' asks. I stand up quickly and I give everyone hugs.

" **I've gotta go. I have training to do tomorrow bright and early.** " I sign and those who can't understand get it translated by those who can and I try to stop blushing. Shika walks me to the door and kisses me on the cheek before I blush and start head home. As soon as I get to my house I see that my Four O'clocks and my Sacred Datura's are in full bloom. I tap my chin and quickly walk in my house before I grab my purse. I lock up before going into the marketplace and I start grabbing some fabric to make some new outfits, some makeup that won't melt, and some female underthings.


	5. Chapter 5

For the next couple days, I make a couple new outfits but I made two of them too big so I have to wait to grow into them. I do some training as well and try to avoid both Kiba and Shika cause of the conflicting feelings that I have inside of me. The ones involving them and Gaara. The reason why I'm starting to have feelings for Gaara is because of his training with his siblings two days ago.

 **Tuesday flashback**

I go to the Naka River to swim while I know the boys are training with their teams and I hear some grunts and groaning. I walk out of the river with my hair down, makeup gone, and only wearing a bikini. I see the two Sand genin training with one another as Gaara is sitting on a big boulder near them. I watch as I keep my footsteps Silent so I don't scare any of them.

"How are you not tired yet Kankuro?" The girl asks and Kitty just smiles before his face cracks away. "Are you serious? The crow? Really?" She growls as she uses her fan to sever the light blue chakra lines. It falls and Kitty comes out with his hood down to reveal dark brown hair.

"Lunch time." He says happily as he comes out from the bushes and I roll my eyes with a smile before I smell some type of mineral getting closer.

"Do you always think with your stomach?" She asks with a smile and I let out a squeal as some sand surrounds me and pulls me closer. "Maiko? What are you doing here?" She asks and I growl before taking a deep breath in and spray some water at the sand around me turning it into mud. I smile and use the water to clean me off again. "And why aren't you covered up?" She squeals before pulling her sweater thingy off to cover me up.

I use my foot to write in the sand since no one is around, 'I was swimming in the river part that's closest to my house and I heard you.'

"Wow sweetie, if you weren't so much younger than me then I'd say you look pretty-" Kitty gets cut off by a pebble to the forehead and I look over to Gaara who looks very irritated by the fact that he was complimenting me.

'I was wondering if you three wanted to join me for lunch?' I ask in the sand and they look over at Gaara who looks at me and I pout slightly.

"Why?" He asks as he looks at me ignoring the other two.

'You three are new and I don't want to be alone in my house.' I write back and I can tell that I hit a cord with him. I see a slight wrinkle between his eyebrows and he looks back at me.

"Lead the way." He says and I smile as I take the sweater thing off before handing it back. I start walking towards the smell of the river and I wave them over. As we walk the warm breeze dries me off and we reach my house. I walk in and I use my speed to push all of my designs off the coffee table onto a bookshelf to hide them.

"Do you need any help?" The girl asks and I smile before motioning her over to the kitchen as the boys sit on my couch and turn my TV on.

"Temari! Don't cook! Your horrible with cooking." Kitty says as he walks over and I roll my eyes.

I grab my white board off the fridge and I start writing, 'Leave her be Kitty. I'm gonna be here during the entire thing. I don't let just anyone into my kitchen.' I hand it over to him and let him read it as I start grabbing different ingredients with a smile on my face.

"Kitty? Why am I Kitty, sweetie?" He pouts at me as I start grabbing a big bowl, a dicing knife, cutting board, and a cookie sheet. I look over at him before acting out putting a hood on my head and Temari laughs as I see Gaara staring at my picture frames. "That's just mean. Can't I be like a tiger or something manly?" He asks as I start slicing and gutting the red and yellow bell peppers while I have Temari heating the oven and cutting up cilantro leaves into little pieces.

I shake my head and wash my hands before putting the peppers on the cookie sheet. 'Nope. You're too sweet to be a tiger.' I smirk as I flick some water at him. Temari chuckles and I see Gaara brushing his fingers over the picture of Taro and Ginro holding me on their shoulders. The picture that they were promoted to Jonin and we went out to Kakashi's apartment to have a junk food night.

"Who're the guys in the pictures with you?" Kitty asks and I freeze up as I put the chicken in the marinade. I drop my head a little bit as my heart clenches uncomfortably. I take a breath and I wash my hands before I put the bowl into the fridge as my body shakes slightly.

'Those are Taro and Ginro, my cousins. We built this house together when they turned 18. All I have left of them is this house, my memories, and those pictures. Their stuff lost their scents.' I write down on the board and I let out a shaky breath. 'They were KIA'ed in a mission about a month ago. Now I'm the only one left.' I put the pen down to see Gaara looking up at me and I see the same loneliness in his eyes that are in mine. He nods slightly at me as if he's saying my condolences. The other two grow silent and I smile at them. 'It's okay. I can start dinner in an hour. I'm gonna need to shower and change before then.' I write out and Temari smiles.

"No problem. I'll watch Kankuro to make sure he doesn't break anything." I nod and I walk up the stairs to my master bedroom. I quickly pull off my bikini and I wrap up in a towel before a pile of sand transforms into Gaara with his arms crossed.

'What are you doing here?' I mouth to him as he tilts his head at me.

"Why?" He says short and sweet.

'You are new in the village and I can be a nice person sometimes.' I say slowly so he can get every word and I squints his eyes.

"I could have killed you back there." He says trying to push some fear into me, but I raise my eyebrow at him and I get close to him passed the sand that tried to stop me. I put my hand on his cheek and he flinches with his eyes wide.

'But you didn't.' I say with a small smile before walking into my bathroom and starting the water before climbing in. The water hits my back and the tears fall down my face. I slide to the floor and my walls break down as my salty tears mix with the water.

 **Wednesday... Evening...**

I'm finishing my newest outfits skirt with the little gold bells and my door gets knocked on. I stand up and jump over to the door to see one of the ANBU at my door. She has a falcon mask with her long dark brown hair in a braid down her back and I see the faintest light blue color of her eyes in the eye holes. I tilt my head as to why she's here and she bows to me slightly.

"The Hokage would like to apologize for this late message, but he would like to join him in his office right now." She says and I put a finger up before pulling a flowing tank top over my sports bra. I take my hair out of its messy bun and I lock up quickly before she and I head to the Hokage's office. I walk in and see him at his desk without his Hokage hat on. I smile and wave as she leaves and I bow slightly to him.

"I apologize for the late message, but I have decided to put you on another team for a short time while their third member is on a recon mission. It's only so that they and you can compete in the Chunin Exams then you can go back to being on Team Kakashi." He says and I nod.

" **When will I meet them**?" I sign to him and he slowly translates my signs since the twins taught him.

"You will meet them tomorrow near the Naka River and don't worry. Kakashi has been notified about this temporary change and he will be notifying the others tomorrow." I nod and look down at my feet.

" **Do I have to tell them about my history**?" I ask and he stands up before put a hand on my head.

"That is completely up to you little one." He says and I give him a hug before he dismisses me. I walk home on the roofs and I hear the howl of Okami.

 _24 years old. Alleyway four blocks away. Hurry my daughter._ I hear him say in my mind as it forces me to change and I can see the man's face in my head. I growl and I start running to his location. I stop at the shady alley and he is pinning a young girl to a wall. I claw the roof tiles and I listen in.

"Help!" She screams and I can feel my hackles rise.

"Come on cutie pie open up." I hear his drunken slurring voice and I growl before I jump down.

" **Leave the girl alone and maybe I won't rip your disgusting tongue out of your mouth and feed it to you.** " I growl out mixed with a deeper more demonic kind of voice. The guy gets distracted by me and as I walk forward the girl runs away.

"Stupid wolf." He says as he pulls out a butterfly knife on me and I roll my eyes at the 'insult'.

" **And you're a pitiful, worthless, spineless, disgusting human being that shouldn't be considered a human. Forcing yourself on numerous young girls who you know can't fight back because you're stronger. Beating men and women for their money...in their own homes!"** I growl out in complete and utter rage as he tries to cut me up while we fight.

"Shut up!" He yells as I bite his throat and a feel a sharp stabbing pain in my ribs. His gurgling and struggling stop slowly as I drop him to the ground. I look around trying to see if I need to go anywhere else tonight and I sit down trying to wait for Okami's order.

 _You can change back now my child. You did good. I'm proud of you._ I hear him say as he burns his mark on his forehead and I change back before I look to see the knife embedded in between my ribs. I growl out as I walk away and I notice that I'm near the Hyuga estates. I quickly wipe the blood off my mouth and I climb over the wall before going to Hinata's room. I climb into it and I see that she's asleep.

I walk over as my sides flares up in pain and I let out a whimper before she wakes up holding a kunai knife, "M-Maiko what are you doing here?"

" **Okami called for my services and I got hurt killing the scumbag. He kind of pulled a switchblade on me. And you know that I can't go to the hospital since they'll fill a report in my medical files and you're an excellent healer when it comes to my wounds.** " I sign and she nods before getting a blanket and laying it down.

"Lay down. I'll get my medic supplies." She says in a strong confident voice and I lay down wincing a bit as she quickly comes over. She hands me a pillow from her bed and I put it on my neck. She puts a bowl next to my head and pulls out some scissors before looking at me. "Would you like me to cut the shirt off or are you able to take it off?" She asks as I feel the knife move in the wound. I shake my head and as I'm about to sign. I let out a yelp as she quickly pulls out the knife before putting pressure on my wound. I glare at her and I pout as she focuses on my wound. I take my shirt off and she moves my breast bindings to clean the wound. "You know I had to keep you from tensing up." She says softly as she uses her Byakugan to check for internal bleeding before she starts stitching me up. "Did you dispose of the body?"

" **No. Everyone needs to know that his crimes were not unpunished and that Okami will help punish him on the way to hell.** " I sign as best I can while she stitches my side up. Hinata is usually quite shy, but when she is helping me with my wounds alone she's very confident.

"Make sure when you get back home to put this medicine on it to make sure that there's no infection." She says as she hands me back my shirt. "Hurry it's passed midnight and even you need to sleep." She helps me up and to put my shirt on before handing me the knife with my blood. "I'll burn the rest of the stuff with your blood on it later." I nod and give her a hug before I leave and sneak out the way I came. As I start to head home I see Temari running back from my neck of the woods.

"Where have you been?" She asks scared and I tilt my head hoping she can't see the blood. "I was coming over for a sleepover remember?" I smile and nod before motioning her over.

" _The Hokage wanted to talk to me about being on a new team._ " I mouth to her and she nods after reading my lips.

"Oh. Are you still up for our sleepover?" She asks as we start walking to my house and I smile after through some plant feed from a bucket next to my door onto my flowers nearest to us.

" _Of course._ " I mouth as we get into my house after I grab the tallest Four O'clock flower. I put the flower in front of the twins' pictures before I throw the knife up into the rafters. We have a fun sleepover for the second girl to ever have a sleepover with me and it was so much fun. She helps me with my clothing designs that I want for when I get older and I teach her how to cook some simple things. Mostly I just gave her some recipes on how to cooking a beef stew, stir-fry, different kinds of ramen, cookies, and even my favorite crock pot meal which is chicken, soup, and rice mixed in together.

 **Thursday**

I see that she left before the sun was even up. I shrug my shoulders, but I get dressed into a simple black and blue tank top with a lower torso binder to keep the gauze on my wound without having to wrap it and a pair of black shorts that have two gold lines on the side. I braid my hair closer to my head as I walk to the River where I am supposed to meet my new team. I climb on top of one of the boulders that I usually do and I see two guys on the other side of the river sparring.

"Are you Maiko Ōtsuki?" I hear a male voice say behind me and I look to see a tall muscular guy that has medium blond hair that's pinned up multiple braids that go down to his shoulders. His headband is on the side of his head and his left eye blue and the other brown. _That's so cool._ "Good, I am Tadao. I hope you're ready to meet the two knuckleheads." I nod and I go to sign, but realize that he might not be able to understand. He chuckles, " **My twin sister was born without the ability to hear so I know how to sign.** " I smile widely before I smell two new scents in front of me. My vision is blurred and my body is on high alert. I growl on instinct before I do a quick spinning round house kick to their faces. I look down to see two 16 year old guys rubbing their cheeks which are already turning red and I smirk as Tadao laughs.

"Ow. Why'd ya have to kick us shorty?" The one with his brown and red hair gelled back like an old business man asks.

I roll my eyes, "Yeah we just wanted to meet our new tiny teammate." The other guy with his green and white hair gelled up in a Mohawk says.

I look back at Tadao, " **Are these the knuckleheads you mentioned?** " I sign and he laughs as the boys look at me weirdly.

"Boys this is Maiko Ōtsuki. Our new third for the Chunin exams. I want you to help her feel welcome." He says as he comes up to me and the boys stand up. "Maiko, this is Takeshi Akagi and his best friend from the academy Yasushi Kawata." Takeshi is business man hair while Yasushi is Mohawk.

" **Can they understand Sign?** " I ask and he smirks.

" **No they don't. Would you like me to translate for you**?" He asks and I see the knuckleheads trying to figure us out. I nod and turn back to the knuckleheads. I sign as fast as I can but I make sure he can understand them. "She says, 'Can't wait to start training with you two knuckleheads. Afterwards we can go to Yakiniku Q; my best friends' guy best friend family owns the restaurant.'" That catches they're attention off of checking me out and I roll my eyes. "Well, I love that place so kick their asses and we'll head over." Tadao sits on my boulder.

After about a twenty minute battle, I smile as they are tied up with some of my nearly invisible wire and their head bands acting as gags in their mouths. I brush off some of the dirt they managed to get on my outfit and I walk over to Tadao with a smirk. " **Maybe that will teach them not to underestimate an average girl. I'll meet you over near the wall. I need to get dressed.** " I sign and I point to the path that has two twin Sacred Datura bushes. " **Follow that path.** " I say as I quickly head home and go to my laundry room to see that my laundry isn't done yet. I growl and I grab a little silver fishnet dress that has slits up my thighs so I can move freely. I pull on a pair of heeled boots on before I lock up to see the boys walking up.

"Is this your house?" Takeshi asks as he tries to touch my flowers and I growl at him.

"This is huge for a t-" I growl as Yasushi doesn't finish his sentence before they both put their arms around me. "Petite and strong girl." He finishes and I smile as we walk to Yakinku Q.

" **My cousins built it as a present to the three of us. Now it's mine."** I sign and let Tadao translate. As I walk in I see Kiba with his mom and sister at a table. I smile and I look back at Tadao and the knuckleheads. " **You get a table. I wanna talk to my best friend.** " I start sneaking over and I lean against Kiba's back with my arms dangling over his shoulders.

"Hi Maiko, where your team?" Hana asks as Kiba moves a bit and makes me sit down on him.

" **Since the Chunin Exams are here and these guys wanted to compete and their third person is on a recon mission I got reassigned for the time being.** " I sign and Kiba nuzzles close to me with his arm around my waist his hand dangerously close to where my wound is.

"How long is the time being?" Kiba's mom, Tsume, asks as she takes a drink of her tea.

I shrug my shoulders, " **Hopefully not very long. I actually kinda miss Naruto's and King Silent Duckbutt's bickering.** " I sign and they laugh at my nickname for Saskue. Tadao whistles lowly and I look over to see the knuckleheads and him walking to a booth. " **I gotta go. They were able to get a booth.** " Kiba whines and pulls me closer.

"No. Stay." He says as Akamaru lets out a yip and I give him a little nose nuzzle. He growls as I try to get out of his arms and I look at Hana and Tsume.

"Kiba let the poor girl go. She's hungry and you and Akamaru have training with the Haimaru brothers." Tsume says in a hard tone before he finally let's go of me. He pecks my temple before I walk to our booth and I see that they're waiting for where I choose to sit. I sit next to Tadao and I see that the knuckleheads are visibly upset.

"You let your friends hold you like a stuffed animal?" Takeshi asks before he looks up at me and I tilt my head at his question.

" **Yeah. Why not?** " I sign letting Tadao translate and the knuckleheads nod before looking over the menu.

"Because it's not ladylike to let makes do that." Takeshi says and I growl before I almost launch myself at him.

" **Screw being ladylike. If I wanna be held or if my guy friends want to hold me as a comfort to them I will let them. Comfort is not something any of us can put aside.** " I frown at him as Tadao keeps me from pummeling the ass. From what I can tell Tadao is a mix of Iruka and papa personality wise and teaching wise. The four of us finish our food in silence probably cause the knuckleheads feel awkward with someone so young on their team. Shika and Kiba walk back up to the window were in front of before leaning in. I feel a napkin on my cheek and I turn to see Yasushi wiping my cheek.

"You had some sauce left on your face, Mai-Chan." He says and I hear a growl next to me.

" **Oh**." I blush lightly not having had anyone I consider family to do that for me. " **Thanks**."

"Hey Mai-Cha-" I turn to Shika before he gets interrupted.

"Ko-Chan." Takeshi says and I look at him. "I like your tattoos." He says closing his eyes in a soft shy smile trying to make up for what he said earlier. I hide my face not knowing if he's being sarcastic or not and I hear my new team and leader chuckling at me.

"They aren't tattoos stupid." Shika says and I peek to see that both of my boys are upset. "They're birthmarks that Okami gave her when she was born." He sneers at him. "Anyways we came over cause we wanted to know if movie night on again?" He looks at me and so does Kiba.

" **Of course we are. Just remember it's Kiba's turn to choose the movies, Your turn to bring the main course cause I'm not cooking this time, and Hinata and Naruto will be bring the junk food**." I sign and I hear the knuckleheads ask what I was saying.

"Hey gold can we join you since you just joined us?" Tadao asks and I look at the boys which has them shrug their shoulders.

" **Yes, but I would like all three of you to bring more pillows and blankets**." I sign and they nod. " **We start the movies and dinner at 7:30**."

"We'll be there." Tadao says with a smile as he ruffles my bangs and I see that the knuckleheads are having a staring contest with my boys.

" **Watch this.** " I smirk as I let out a little whimper after I bite and make my lip bleed a bit. Suddenly my boys come closer as they check in my lip and the knuckleheads try to hand me their napkins. " **You boys done glaring? You look like Saskue and Naruto.** " I tease as I lick the blood away from my lip and they roll their eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Time Jump**

I open my eyes to see that I'm at the full moon festival in the village. The traditional lights, decorations, and even some kids are running around. I hear our songs and drums playing lowly in the background. I look down to see that I'm wearing my tights underneath my light blue flowing dress and my hair down and flowing. The bonfire raging on and it smelling of the Four O'clocks, Moon flowers, and Sacred Datura's. I smile as I hear my mother and father singing with the back that's nearby. I relax a bit before I see that the edges of my vision are fuzzy like a genjutsu and I try to release it. But it doesn't get dismissed. I growl as I try to find out why it feels like it's not real. I stand up and I get automatically spun into strong arms. I look up to see a man with the same red marks as me and dark gold eyes with long snow white hair. He's wearing a fishnet shirt with a pair of pants while his hair is braided over his right shoulder and his tan muscles are obviously on display. Honestly if I had white hair and was a guy then I would look like him. He smiles and sets the both of us up to dance as the music turns to a nice soft tune. 

" **I'm sorry to bring you to back to this.** " He says and I recognize his voice as Okami. The man that blessed me with my wolf form and my wolfish tendencies. My eyes widen and suddenly my mouth is dry as a desert. He smiles as he nods while we dance around the bonfire. 

I take a big gulp as I lick my lips, "H-how did you do this?" I stutter as we dance around the fire with the sounds of my clan and the rest of the village laughing, singing, and just being alive. 

" **I am a god my daughter, but I can only work within certain limits in your realm. I took this scene from your memory banks. I'm very sorry that you got a scar saving that girl last night**." He says as he picks me up and twirls me.

"I don't mind you borrowing a scene and the scar can fade with time. I'm just glad I was able to get the bastard before he seriously harmed her." I say as we keep twirling and spinning as the fireflies start lighting up around our dancing figures.

" **Good. I know that you have the Chunin Exams coming up soon and I can't wait to watch you, but in this you have to have more chakra reserves and in turn more chakra. I am giving you more chakra. This will cause your wolf form to grow bigger than what it is now, your speed to increase, and your chakra to be visible even when you try not to."** He says as we stop with the crescent moon over his shoulder. 

"Will it hurt **?** " I ask and he puts his hand under my chin to make me look up at him.

He smiles sadly as he keeps eye contact with me, " **I wish I could say it's not. But it will."** He leans down and kisses the middle of my forehead mark. " **I promise that you that you will feel much better and your human body will feel healthier than it does now."** I close my eyes as a bright gold light shines brightly while a sudden sharp pain stabs me in all of my main chakra points. 

I open my eyes as my body screams in pain and I move the blanket off me as I move Kohaku. I look around to see that the knuckleheads actually left with Tadao after we all passed out from training yesterday. I groan, "No more training until 2 in the morning ever again." I say as I walk up to my room before stripping down to nothing before I turn the hot water on for my shower. I wrap up in a towel as it heats up before pulling out my makeup and hair ties. I pull my hair out of the messy braids as I hear someone knock on my door downstairs and I walk down the stairs once again. I open my door and I see that no one is here. I look down to see a single desert Kudu flower on my mail box. I walk out and grab it off my mail box before taking a deep breath inhaling its fragrance.

"Wow, I've never smelt this before." I say softly as I walk back into my house. I put it on the sill in a little vase as I go back up to my shower. "What a strange flower." I say as I feel a sudden shiver go up my spine as I walk into my bathroom.

 **Unknown POV:**

Kohona, the Village hidden in the Leaves, I tracked them to this place. What a surprise well considering that night I'm glad they were able to make it this far away. I use a genjutsu to camouflage myself as I walk through the village trying to find out where they live. I smell a familiar scent before I close my eyes to follow my nose and as I walk closer to the smell it reminds me of home. I smile before I open my eyes to see a two story dark brown house with green finishing touches and I scoff lightly. 'Of course they would make it look like all it looked like was a huge overgrown shrub.'

"This is their house? It looks just like-" I say as I walk up the way making sure that no one is watching. I see she has Four O'clocks and Sacred Datura's lining up from the river all the way up to her door. "Of course they- I mean she would have these flowers guiding her home." I chuckle lightly before I see her lying on the couch with her Kohaku stuffed animal and a thick blanket covering her up. "She still has that thing?" I say in disbelief while I see her body start glowing and I hear her screaming in pain. I groan at her pain filled scream before ducking into the bushes.

I hear her groan, "No more training until 2 in the morning ever again." I shake my head at her antics and I smile thinking back to when the Queen and King trained with her until she fell asleep.

I get out of the bushes and I fix my forehead protector that fell over my eyes as I pull out the flower from my water pouch. I quickly put the flower on her mailbox and I knock on her door before teleporting over to a big tree. I get comfortable as I wait for her to walk out here to investigate the noise. I hear the door open and I look up to see her come out wearing only a metallic silver towel with her long dark blue hair down to her waist and a curious look on her face that she has had on her face since she was born. I smirk as I see that she has made herself look like any other girl in this vast village from what I have seen so far. Innocent, of average looks, and above all else she exudes pureness. I shake my head with a smirk knowing that she's fooling everyone with this little act, so that she won't get caught.

But underneath her carefully crafted façade, I can sense there's something that's changed in her and I tilt my head. I can tell it's changed her in more ways than one. I look around and I furrow my eyebrows when I can't tell what it is from looking at her, "Why are you all alone? Taro and Ginro should be with you." I whisper to myself in confusion knowing she can't hear me cause of the wind that's drifting through.

"Wow, I've never smelt this before." I hear her say which reminds me of her mom. Her walk which used to be so guarded is now it's more confident and as she walks back into her house I can tell that her power has gotten stronger. "What a strange flower." I move my hair out of my way as the breeze works in my favor so that she doesn't smell me.

"Maybe one day. We can start anew." I say as I watch over her just as I always have except for those couple years I lost their trail. I see the flower in a window on top of the window sill in direct sunlight. The sun hits it and activates the protection justu sigil that I put on the flower. I smile widely as I make a little nest in the tree to watch over her and I put a genjutsu seal on the trunk to hide my set up. "I will protect you always... Princess Maiko."

 **Back to Mai's POV:**

I walk out of my house fully dressed and refreshed. I decided to go with a thicker cincher because it'll make sure that my stitches don't try anything. I walk out of my house knowing I have a while till I have to go to the academy. I start braiding my wet hair as I have the application form in between my teeth. My body tenses up as I smell something familiar in the breeze. I turn around and I look around to see nothing. Nothing except for the leaves falling to the ground and I still can't shake the feeling of something there. I growl lightly before continuing on my way and as I get closer to the shops I see the knuckleheads and Tadao coming out of a shop meant for girls. I put my application in my pocket before I whistle and smile as I catch their attention.

"Are you ready for the exam Ko-chan?" Takeshi asks as he and Yasushi give their bags to Tadao.

" **I sure am.** " I sign and let Tadao translate. " **Let's go!** " I say as I grab their shirts and start pulling them to the academy. When we get to the door I see a ground with two very familiar scented people guarding the door and I squint my eyes at them.

"You're thinking of taking the exams, but you can't even get passed me." Izumo laughs and I roll my eyes. "Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?"

"Please let us through, we have to go in there." A girl with brown hair in two buns on top of her says meekly. Kotetsu guarding the door tsked before punching her which has me growl and she falls back into a boy with black bowl cut hair in a gross dark green skin tight suit.

I walk over pissed off as other genins whisper amongst themselves, "Harsh."

"Did you just say Harsh? You'll experience crueler things in there then just one little punch!" Izumo says and I walk over not caring that this is not the right room. "We're being merciful in comparison!"

"More than half of you won't even survive the Chunin exams. You'll be marked for life! Some might even go crazy, for Chunin its always a life of death." Kotetsu says and I kneel down to her before I give her a salve for the bruise that's gonna be there.

"This isn't some field trip kiddies. Chunin are all qualified to lead missions, the lives of your squad members will be on your own hands, so you better be tough enough to take the heat! Delicate little girls... don't belong here." They say to the girl and I look up at them.

" **This delicate little girl can kick your ass big brothers. Don't you dare forget that.** " I sign to them and I can see in their eyes that they look ashamed. I try to launch myself at them, but I get grabbed and pulled away.

"Cute speech." I hear a King Silent Duckbutt say as my knuckleheads pull me up and away.

" **If you were trying to scare academy students**." I continue letting Naruto translate for me as the knuckleheads try to keep me from squirming out of their grip and I smirk happily.

"Now just let us pass... Oh and remove the genjutsu while you're at it." Duckbutt says and I see my tilt their heads which is something that they got from me.

"What?" Izumo pretends to act dumb which has me roll my eyes since I know that Genjutsu is what Kotetsu practices all the time on him. Several people start to whisper confused as if they can't see that this is the wrong floor.

"Well, Well." Kotetsu sneers and I roll my eyes. _If I keep rolling my eyes I'm going to lose them_.

"So you noticed the genjutsu?" Izumo asks as the sign above the door changes from 301 to 202.

"Sakura," Duckbutt says and I look at him, "You must of seen it first, right?"

I see what he's doing, " **Your sharp eye and mind must have deduced it as soon as you got on this floor**." I sign letting Naruto translate again even though I know they understand what I said.

Sakura nods with confidence in her voice, "Of course I noticed. A child could of noticed."

"After all this is still the second floor. We need to get to the third." Naruto continues boredly.

"Well aren't we smart? So you noticed the illusion, well let's see how you deal with this!" Izumo says before Kotetsu tries to kick at Saskue who of course goes to counter before the knuckleheads and I walk away.

"Why did you go to help the girl and pinkie?" Yasushi asks while we go up to the third floor.

" **Because I can.** " I sign slowly trying to let them catch my words and they nod before they lead the way. Before I can walk into the room Papa pulls me away, " **What's wrong papa?** "

"Be careful in these exams little one. This Exams can kill you and I don't want you hurt." He says before I feel him slip something into my thigh bag. "Now go get with your team." I nod before give his cheek a mask covered kiss. I walk in and I see that a bunch of other ninjas from other villages. My inner wolf growls not knowing their skill level and intentions all. I look at all of them and I growl seeing that they not all of them are keeping their eyes on my face. I hate my body from growing faster than the other girls my age. I see Temari, Kankuro and Gaara in them and I smile at them. They all smile and nod back while Gaara bows his head slightly. I walk over to the knuckleheads and we lean against the wall waiting for the rest.

"My my my, what cute little leaf ninja." I hear a sleazy voice say and I roll my eyes as the knuckleheads slide closer to me.

"Leave her alone." Yasushi says and I look up to see a tan Genin with spiky, black hair and dark brown eyes. He's wearing a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. With a forehead protector on his head has a musical note on the metal part of his.

"Why she's a cutie. I just wanna know her name." He says as he walks closer and I see him checking me out.

" **How about no you disgusting sleaze ball**." I sign as I see my teammates walk in to see the three of them looking very shocked of my new teammates and I walk over to give them hugs. I see Yasushi and Takeshi glaring behind me. " **Everyone this is my team for the Exams, Takeshi and Yasushi.** " I say as my surrogate team and my team size one another up.

"Saskue, where've you been?" Ino runs up as she hugs him around his neck from behind with a giggle and I pretend to barf. Saskue looks back at her really annoyed and we look at one another with an eye roll that is in unison. "Boy you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here. I've missed those grooving good looks of yours."

"Hey you porker, back off, he's mine!" Sakura shouts at her while pointing.

"Miss Forehead, they let you in? Still got those big frown-lines on your big brow I see."

"Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura shouts while Ino sticks out her tongue and pulls her lower eye lid down. I smell a familiar scent and smile as I turn to see Shika.

"Oh it's you guys." Shika says as he and Choji walks over while eating chips. He put his arm around my shoulder before giving my temple a kiss, "I knew this was gunna be a drag, but I didn't know it was going to be this lame."

"So all three stooges are here." Naruto says and I poke his cheek before he gives me a smile.

"Hey you know what pipsqueak- ah forget it, you're a waste of time." Shika says as I wrap my arm around his waist and he pulls me closer to him.

"Sorry, but Saskue's all mine." Ino says pulling her eye lid down again and I roll my eyes before another smell comes out which makes me happy.

"Well well, what do you know?" Kiba says as he wraps his arm around my waist putting his hand in my pocket while Shino and Hinata walk over. "It looks like the whole gang is back together again with two extras." He says looking at the knuckleheads with a glare and a growl from Akamaru.

"Oh hi Naruto." Hinata says in a soft voice as she checks my side where she stitched me up.

"Hm?" Naruto looks at her causing her to blush after giving me a hug and I ruffle his hair.

"You guys too huh?" Shika asks. "Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing."

"Yep, here we all are." Kiba says. "The 10 rookies hahaha... plus two extras."

" **Don't be rude Kiba.** " I sign and he rolls his eyes before he kisses my cheek as Akamaru climbs over to the top of my head.

He leans into my ear and whisper, "Make me." I blush before I smack his chest playfully and he chuckles lightly. "Well this is gunna be fun." Kiba says as he looks over at Saskue while I see the knuckleheads glaring at my boys' arms around me. "At least for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right Saskue?"

"Kiba, careful you don't get over confident." Saskue says with his signature smirk.

"Just wait, we're gunna blow you guys away." Kiba says. "We've been training like crazy."

"What do you think we've been doin'?" Naruto asks loudly and I growl as his high pitched voice hits my ears. "Sittin' around pickin daises? You don't know what training means."

"Uh, don't mind Kiba." Hinata says while pushing her fingers together and I smile softly hoping that she gains more confidence. "I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it."

"Huh?" Naruto asks making Hinata blush again.

"Hm?" Kiba looks at her while Akamaru barks from the top of my head. Choji takes a step towards Kiba, but Shino steps in front of him.

"What do you want?" Choji asks, "What's wrong?" I look down to see a little beetle right where Choji was about to step on.

"Thought maybe you hadn't seen it." Shino says in his monotonous voice.

"Huh?"

"Didn't want you stepping on it." Shino says and I smile as I take Akamaru off of my head and hold him in my arms as he nuzzles against my chest.

"Why? You savin' it for lunch?" Choji asks and I smell a weird smell come through the room. I sneeze and I blush as I can tell Kiba and Shika are gonna tease me later for it.

"Hey you guys." A guy with grey hair and glasses says as he walks over and I growl at him but Kiba pulls me closer letting Shika put his hands back in his pockets. "You might wanna try keeping it down a little. I mean no offence you're the ten rookies right? Fresh outta the academy. I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."

"Well who asked you?" Ino asks as his voice sends cold shivers up my spine. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really look around you." We all look around and I see that the sand siblings are staring at us. Kankuro winks at me, Temari smiles, and Gaara has a different look in his eyes before he nods his head at me which makes me smile. "You've made quite an impression. Especially you gold." Everyone else in the room is looking over at them and I feel the boys tense up along with my knuckleheads. "See those guys they're from the rain village, very touchy, they all are. This exam makes everyone tense and you don't wanna rub them the wrong way right now. You can't help it. I mean how could you know how things work, you're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back."

"Kabuto, is that your name?" Sakura asks and I tilt my head.

"Yeah."

"This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?"

"No it's… my seventh." He says a bit bashfully.

"Huh?" Shika looks confused and I see in his eyes he's trying to work it out.

"Well they're held twice a year, so this will be my fourth year."

"Wow, veteran, you must really be an expert by now."

"Yeah, sort of." Kabuto says and I roll my eyes.

"Cool, you can give us all the inside tips." Naruto says with a wide grin.

"Yeah some expert, he's never passed." Shika says under his breath as I pet Akamaru.

"Well seventh times the charm." Kabuto says scratching the back of his head as Kiba slips something into my pocket. "That's what they say huh?"

"So I guess all of those rumors about the exam being tough are true." Shika says. "Aw man I knew this was gunna be a drag."

" **Being a challenge is half the fun.** " I sign and both Kiba and Shika smirk down at me.

"Hang on, don't give up hope yet." Kabuto says as he moved his gaze from me. "Maybe I can help you kids out a little." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some cards. "With my… info ninja cards."

"What the heck are those?" Sakura asks as we all look on curiously and I feel Akamaru squirm so I hand him back.

"It's hard to explain but these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past for years." Kabuto places the cards on the ground and crouches in front of them. "I've got more than 200 of them. So you see I haven't been completely wasting my time. They made not look like much to the naked eye, in fact," He flips over the first card and it's completely blank. "They appear blank. Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." He spins the card around with one finger.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asks and I roll my eyes as I face palm. I'm surprised she can't feel him building up chakra.

"You see I'm using my chakra to reveal their secrets, like this for example." He brings his other hand up and the card suddenly changes to reveal a picture with the nations and their hidden village symbols. On each of them is a green bar. It's probably the stats of that village.

"Awesome, a map." Sakura says and I yawn out of boredom, "Of what?"

"It shows the geographical distribution of all the candidates who have come to take the Chunin exam, what villages they come from and how many from each village. Why do you guys think they all come here to take the exam together at the same time?" He looks around but as I'm about to answer he cuts me off which makes me tense up. "It's to foster friendship between nations of course. International brotherhood and all that, and it's true enough as far as it goes."

"But there's another reason." Saskue says and I growl at being cut off.

"Yeah, you see the important thing is that this way they can carefully regulate the total number of shinobi that end up in each village, thereby maintaining the balance of power."

"Oh yeah, balance of power," Naruto says trying to be smart.

"Balance of power, big deal, it's all a drag." Shikamaru says as Kabuto makes the card blank again.

"If the balance isn't maintained one nation could wind up with many more shinobi than its neighbors and it might be tempted to attack them." Kabuto says, "So they try to maintain the status quo. Makes sense I suppose."

"Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?" Saskue asks and my eyes widen while my body shakes in fear for everyone knowing what or how high my position is.

"They might." Kabuto says. "You have someone special in mind?"

"I might."

"Well I can't promise my information is complete or perfect." Kabuto puts that one card back and straightens out the deck. "But I've got something on just about everyone. Including you guys of course, so which one is it? Tell me anything you know about them, a description, where they're from, whatever." He holds up a card and looks at me with a glint in his eye that I don't recognize. I growl internally, I don't like that glint at all. "Anything at all. Maybe you golden eyes."

I automatically throw my kunai down at the card while he set the card down and he jumps back as my friends look at me strangely, " **My life is not to be displayed on any of your cards.** " I sign letting Saskue translate for me to let them feel my serious tone. " **If you do display it without my permission. I will make sure that you can never have any kids even with medical help**." I drag my kunai down the card making it slice evenly and his face shows true fear while his eyes show fear mixed with curiosity.

"A-anyways, he's Gaara of the desert and there's Rock Lee of the Leaf Village while you're at it." Naruto and Saskue say as Kiba pulls me back into his arms.

"Man that's no fun, you even know their names, that makes it easy." Kabuto says as he throws his broken card away while I put my knife back in my bag. A smirk in my face as Kiba nuzzles my braid and beads. He quickly swipes his hand over the cards and holds up two. "Here they are."

"Show'em to me."

"Okay, first up is Rock Lee." Kabuto says as he spins the first card. It revealed Lee's card. "Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience, 11 C ranks and 20 D ranks. His squad leader is Gai. In the last twelve months his Taijutsu has radically improved but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year he got a lot of attention as a genin but for some reason he chose not to participate in the chunin exam. This will be his first time as a candidate same as you guys. His team mates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga."

"Huh? Hyuga?" Naruto asks as Kabuto puts the second card down.

"Okay, now for Gaara of the desert. Mission experience eight C rank and get this one B rank as a genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land originally but there is this he survived every mission without getting a scratch on his."

"The dude's done a B rank as a genin and has never even been injured?" Shika asks and I look over at Gaara who is slyly looking around at everyone.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asks as Kabuto took out another card and shows the map again. I tune out the rest of everything since his voice bothers me.

" **I'll be back**." I sign as I start walking over to the sand siblings.

"Where is she going?" I hear my friends ask.

"She and the sand siblings are becoming friends. She even let them go to her house for dinner." I hear Hinata's say and I smile as I get engulfed in a hug.

"Did you bring us some of your food sweetie?" Kankuro asks and I roll my eyes before pulling out three baggies out of my pack.

" **I made some potato chips and I made them with natural black lava salt.** " I sign to them slowly since they're still getting used to me signing to them. I hand them to the siblings and they start nibbling on the chips. I see their eyes widen and I smile as I watch them dig into the baggies.

"Thank you." I hear Gaara whisper from next to me. I smile as I feel my cheeks heat up slightly before I hear Naruto suddenly yell and point at the rest of the room.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna beat every one of ya! Believe it!" I growl and face palm as Temari rolls her eyes. I give the sand siblings hugs and as I go over to Gaara his sand tries to stop me before covering us in a bubble.

"Why can you slip through my sand?" He asks in a gravelly voice and I am tell he's also asking for the bloodlust inside of him.

" **I don't know.** " I sign before I hug him with my arms around his neck and I give him a kiss on his cheek. His sand melts away in his shock and I go back to my other friends.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now." Naruto says as he puts his arms behind his head and Kabuto stands up.

"Uh, can you say that again a little louder?" Kiba asks as I stretch my arms before walking over to the knuckleheads. "Didn't quite catch it."

"You moron." Shika says angrily. "Are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts or what?" Naruto laughs while Sakura puts Naruto in a headlock and I growl as I feel really tense like I'm a snake coiled up and ready to strike.

"Naruto! You idiot! Why'd you go and say something like that?! You obnoxious little-!" Sakura stops before looking at the rest of the room. "Oh hey everyone heh don't mind him. Sometimes he just says these spazy things he doesn't really mean them they just kinda come out! He's got this uh condition you know kinda a psychological thing he really should be on medication. Now see what you've done Naruto! You hurt everybody's feelings they think you don't respect them but that isn't true, is it Naruto?!" Then suddenly three sound villages ninja move. I growl before I try to get in front of my friends, but Takeshi keeps me in between him and Yasushi. "Would you just for once in your life think about what you're doing?! Think about the rest of us!" Sakura continues to scold Naruto.

"Fine." Naruto says as one of the sound ninja attacks throwing two kunai at Kabuto. He slides back out of the way and another pops up. The sound ninja with the wrappings on his face goes to punch Kabuto, but he dodges it. I whine as my ears hear the high pitch and I cover them to try and stop the ringing. Kabuto smirks, but suddenly his glasses break and the glass falls out.

"Oh I get it, so it was that kind of attack." Kabuto say before taking off his glasses and I glare at the sound ninja that was flirting with me earlier.

"Hang on, I saw it all, he dodged the attack." Saskue says confused and on guard. "How did that happen?"

"It must have come closer than it looked." Shika says, "Che, look at him acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy." I rub my ears as Kabuto falls to his knees and throws up.

"What? Did he just-?" Naruto asks as I quickly shake my head while I feel Okami's chakra healing me faster than it used to.

"Kabuto, what's wrong?" Sakura asks as she leans down as he coughs a bit. "What is it?" She walks over and kneels down to him as I stay far away from him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He says as I see his calculating look in his eye again and it makes me rub my ears a bit more.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asks.

"Not such a tough guy after all I guess." The sound ninja that attacked him says and I roll my eyes. "Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try."

"Write this on your little card, punk." The one who was flirting with me says trying to intimidate us. "The genin from the sound village will be Chunin when this is over, guaranteed." I scoff as I cross my arms across my chest while he looks over at me. "You got something to say to me, sweet cheeks?" Everyone turns to look at me as they wait for a snarky comeback knowing that I hate guys that use cheesy crap on me.

" **As a matter of fact I do.** " I sign letting Sakura translate before I walk over to him trying to act as adult as I can and I use my kunoichi lessons finally. My hips swaying to keep their attention and my eyes flirting with him, but hiding the fact that I slid a kunai down my sleeve into my hand and it works. His eyes and his partner's eyes widen with a pink tinge under them as their kunoichi glares at me since she knows what I'm doing. " **No one is guaranteed to be in one piece when they get to the end. If they even pass the other tests. Just one accidental slip of a blade or a foot and something important to them can be lost forever.** " I sign with a growl as I have a kunai knife on a very sensitive part of a male which has him gasp and flinch. " **And the next time you call me sweet cheeks... will be your last.** " I sign and I feel the room cool down to the most iciest temperature. I smirk before I pull away putting my kunai away and walk away. Suddenly there is an explosion of smoke in the back of the room and I pull my shuriken out ready to throw it.

"Alright you baby-faced degenerates, Pipe down and listen up!" The smoke clears to reveal a large group of ninja with a ninja in a black coat in the front and I smile as I see Izumo and Kotetsu among them. I see the guy that talked is a man with multiple scars on his face. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino your proctor and from this moment your worst enemy. First, you candidates from the village hidden in the sound." Ibiki points as I see the guy I threatened is trying not to look scared of me. "Knock it off! Who told you you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun?!"

"Sorry, it's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy." The sound ninja with the wrappings on his face says and I roll my eyes. "Sir."

"I'll say this once so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

"Hmph, no fatal force? That's no fun." The sound ninja says as Takeshi and Yasushi pull me back into them away from the guy I threatened as I hear Kotetsu chuckling with the rest of the guys behind him.

"Now if we're ready we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin exam." Ibiki says and I see him pulling something out. "Hand over your paperwork. In return you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

"The what?" Naruto asks and I face palm knowing if I didn't help him then he would definitely fail. "Did he say… written?" I see Kotetsu holding up a large stack of paper. "No! Not a written test! No way!"

We start doing as he says and I get my number from Kotetsu who smiles and winks at me. I find my number seat and sit down only to see that I'm sitting next to a big burly guy from the looks of it he's from the village hidden in the mist. He looks down at me and smiles. He has dark brown hair with green eyes and his headband pushing his hair up while the rest is smoothed down.

"You look like my kid sister." He says roughly as if he's a smoker and I tilt my head. "Yeah she would be the same age as you. You almost have the same color hair as Yue, but hers was darker." I smile softly and he goes to pat my head. I nod and he softly pats my head as if I am a porcelain doll.

" **Thank you.** " I mouth to him letting him read my lips and he looks at me curiously as to why I can't talk.

"Everyone eyes front." Ibiki says tapping a piece of chalk on the board and the guy drops his hand from my head. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of and I won't answer any questions." He taps the chalk on the bored a few more times. "So you better pay attention the first time around." Ibiki starts writing on the board. "Alright, rule number one is this: the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to. You all begin the test with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three your final score will be seven. Rule number two: Teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members." I see Sakura's head hit the table and I bite my lip before the guy grabs my hand and gently squeezes it.

"What?! Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team?!" She screams as the guy nods at me trying to keep me from answering her.

"Silence. I have my reasons so shut up and listen. Rule number three: The sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every incidence they spot they will subtract two points from the culprits score."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Be warned their eyes are extremely shot and if they catch you five times you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored." Ibiki says as I see my brothers looking over at me and they send me nods and smiles of reassurance. "Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."

"I've got my eye on you guys." Kotetsu says in a deep and teasing voice that he likes to use on me.

"If you want to be considered shinobi then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be. One more thing, if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test then the entire team fails." I look over to see Naruto gulp. "The final question won't be given out until 15 minutes before the of the testing period. You'll have one hour total." The clock ticks and he yells out, "Begin." We all turn over our papers and I write my name down before looking over the questions.

" **Having fun?"** I hear Okami's voice in my head suddenly and I tense up before looking around.

" **Please tell me I don't have to change in the middle of this?** " I ask as he chuckles in my head and I start drawing some wolves on the margins.

" **No, I'm just checking on the heiress of the Otsuki clan and making sure my chakra hasn't damaged her in anyway."** He says as I feel the comforting touch of a rough male hand on my cheek brushing my ears away and behind my ear.

" **Oh good. This stuff is hard enough without having to explain why I change into a Female wolf."** I say as I continue my drawing and I look around to see Ibiki sensei looking at me curiously. I raise my eyebrow not bowing to his staring, " **Hey Okami is there anyway you can stop him from staring?** " He chuckles and I see his trench coat get pulled down making him fall on his side. I chuckle before going back to work on my paper. I tilt my head before I hear Akamaru talking to Kiba. My eyes widen, " **Were supposed to cheat. But not get caught. We have to collect information, but this stuff is so damn easy.** "

"Five strikes and you're out." One of the sentinels say to the guy that he threw a kunai at. "You just failed the test."

"What? It can't be."

"You and your team mates will leave the room immediately." Two other boys stand up angrily and start to leave. "Candidate number 23, fail. Number 27 and 43 fail."

"It's not fair! I didn't do anything!" The boy screams as he gets dragged out. "I didn't do anything!"

"No, no way! Who says I cheated five times!" One guy from the sand village asks standing up. "Where's your proof?! How can you keep track of all of us?! You got the wrong guy! How do you know I wasn't just-" Suddenly one of the sentinels hit the guy and pin him to the wall.

"Sorry pal. We were chosen for this duty because we don't make mistakes like that. You can't even blink without us seeing it. We're the best of the best and you my friend are history." He lets the guy go. "Now get out. Take your teammates with you." Two other guys look really upset before the three leaves.

"Number 59, you fail." A sentinel says.

"Numbers 33 and 9, fail." Another says.

"Number 41, fail."

"Numbers 35 and 62 fail." I sigh and do my paper without using any Jutsu easily using my memories about mathematics as more people get called out for making their cheating too obvious.

"Hey no way!"

" **By the way, soon you should go back to your village and check it out.** " He says and I scrunch my eyebrows before I do the hardest questions with ease. " **Don't question me. Go to your village soon.** " His presence leaves me and I yawn before putting my head down. I growl at his vagueness and I close my eyes to nap since I haven't been able to take my usual naps. I sleep happily as I ignore all the sounds around me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Izumo POV:**

I'm about to fall asleep since most of these genin have either been caught the least amount or haven't been caught at all. I yawn and stretch a bit before I hear Ibiki again, "Alright, listen up." Ibiki says at the 15 minute mark and I look over to my surrogate little sister to see that she's dead asleep. "Here's the tenth and final question. But before I give you the question there are some more rules that you need to be aware of." The door in the back opens and Kankurō from the sand village walks inside. "Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening. Well, take your seat. These rules are unique to question 10. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you." Ibiki says and he notices that Maiko is asleep. He pulls out a kunai and throws it, but her body moves and catches it between her fingers before throwing it behind her into the door lock. I hear gasps among us Jonin and the Genin while I see Ibiki is a bit thrown for words as they all notice that she's asleep.

"Her body is always alert. It's an automatic response." I say as I nod at Kotetsu since he's closer to her and I smile as he hands off his clipboard to one of the sentinels next to him.

"You're lucky that her subconscious was able to remember that you're a proctor sir." Kotetsu says before standing up to walk over to her.

"Otherwise that lock could have been something more important to you." I say as my partner in crime pulls out some leftover steak kabobs and he puts them next to her face. She opens her eyes and sees Kotetsu next to her.

" **You brought me meduim steak kabobs right?"** She signs and I shake my head wondering why she wasn't speaking. She grabs a kabob. She stretches and winces slightly before I furrow my brow wondering why she winced. " **Why is everyone staring?** "

"You passed out." Kiba says as he smirks at her and she looks over at him with the kabobs very easily disappear. She blushes while she is wiping her mouth gently.

"Now that sleeping beauty has woken up. Rule number one: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question; it's your decision."

 **Back to Maiko's POV:**

"You passed out." Kiba says as he smirks at me as I look at him after I finish off the kabobs easily. My cheeks flare up red in a blush while I wipe my mouth gently.

"Now that sleeping beauty has woken up. Rule number one: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question; it's your decision." I blush as I realize I must have done something in my sleep and I stretch my arms as I notice the big guy is gone. I pout slightly thinking that one of his team must have been caught.

"Woah, so what's the catch? Let's say we decide we don't wanna do it. What happens then?" Temari asks with a tilt of her head which she probably got from me.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means of course that both your teammates fail as well." Everyone left starts whispering to each other. "Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly you will not only fail… you will be forbidden from taking the chunin exam ever again!" My eyes widen and I growl digging my nails into wooden desk leaving claw marks.

"Hey that's bull man! That's ridiculous!" Kiba says standing up and pointing at him. "What kind of bogus rule is that?! There's lots of people here who've taken the test before!" Akamaru barks in agreement as Ibiki laughs at the high spirited boy.

"I guess you're just, unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident then by all means skip it. You can come back and try again next year." Ibiki laughs again and I look over at Takeshi and Yasushi. I raise an eyebrow and look over at Ibiki before looking back.

" **It's a trick.** " Takeshi signs to me and I look at him shocked.

 **He must have been learning although he is a bit stiff.** I think to myself as we look at each other even more determined.

"Now then, if you're ready, the tenth and final question, those who don't want to take it raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and then you'll be free to go." I see the guy next to Naruto raise his hand up and I raise my eyebrow lightly.

"I'm out." He says sadly and he stands up, "That's it. I'm out. I just can't do it. I'm sorry."

"Number 50, fail. Number 130, number 110, that means you're out too." Izumo says as he looks at me which I give him a smirk.

"Genai, Inaho, I'm sorry guys." Two other boys stand up which I think are his teammates. "I'm sorry."

"That's it, I quit!" Another guy raises his hand and I look at them leaving.

"Me too sir, I'm out." A bunch of other people start raising their hands and I watch them all leave. They all leave and I see that the room is kinda empty. I see Sakura starting to raise her hand, but then Naruto does which has my eyes widen. I let out a soft breath of disbelief before I see his arm shake and he suddenly slams his hand down on the table making me jump.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can act tough all you want. You guys aren't gonna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life!" He stands up and I smile widely as I feel my enthusiasm spark again. "I'll still be Hokage someday!" He sits back down with his arms crossed over his chest and I cross my arms my resolve sound once more.

"This decision is one that could change your life." Ibiki says and I tilt my head slightly. "If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance."

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja." Naruto says and I smile bigger knowing that's what he said on our mission to the Land of Waves. I smile and lean back as put my legs up on the desk wincing slightly touching my side. For the first time since Wednesday night it's hurting really bad.

"Well then, I admire your determination if nothing else." Ibiki says with a slight smirk on his face and I bite my lip as my pain shoots up. "but those of you remaining there's only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you: That you've all passed the first exam."

"Wah- Hold on!" Sakura stands up and I look at Takeshi and Yasushi who are completely shocked. "What just happened?! What do you mean we passed? We're the tenth question?!" Ibiki smiles and laughs.

"There never was one. Not a written one at least. Actually your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"Huh?"

"Wait a second!" Sakura looks back at Temari who has decided to stand up as well. "So the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time! Is that what you're saying?!"

"No no, not at all." Ibiki says and I tilt my head. "Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligents under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh, well that clears up everything." Temari says and I squint my eyes in confusion.

"Let me explain. You see my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team and how well you function as a part of a team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis so you'd know that everything you did or failed to do would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure."

"Mhm." Naruto nods, "Yeah I figured it was somethin like that, that's why I kept my cool." I look at him and look back at the others of rookie nine.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact as you may have realized too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion. That you'd have to cheat if you had any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it. Of course it would've done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two chunin, who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you." Two guys raise their hands and they wave.

"Oh come on, I wasn't fooled for a second." Naruto says putting his arms behind his head. "You had to be a complete doofus to not see it. Isn't that right Hinata?"

"Those who were caught at it failed." Ibiki says as he moves his hand to his face. "Better not to cheat than to cheat clumsily." He takes off his headband/bandana revealing that his bald head is covered in scars and marks. "Information, it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission's a failure or success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it."

"Man what a mess." Saskue says. "Scars and puncture wounds, burn marks … what he must have endured." Naruto gulps as Ibiki puts his headband back on.

"Of course you much always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bare this in mind. Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat in order to survive. And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."

" **Okay even though the questions were a piece of cake, but I'm still not getting what the tenth question thing is all about.** " I sign and Kotetsu translates for me as I see that Ibiki's eyes were actually following my signs which have me confused to why he knows sign.

"You're not? The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam, surely you see that."

"Sure, but explain it anyway." Sakura says as I try to figure Ibiki out.

"AS I said before the goal was to test you not only as individuals but as part of a squad. The final question gave you two choices." Ibiki holds up two fingers. "Both difficult. You could choose to play it safe and skip the question though it meant that both you and your teammates would fail or you could try and answer knowing if you got it wrong you would lose your chance of ever being Chunin. It was a no win situation. But just the sort Chunin have to face every day. For example let me give you a hypothetical mission: To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you, that you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission? Of saying my comrades and I would rather live to fight another day? Can you choose to avoid danger? _No_. There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it you think only of the goal and achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves chunin. At least as long as I'm here. As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I've put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the chunin selection exam completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

"All right! We did it! That's one down" Naruto shouts as he starts doing his happy dance. "Yeah yeah! Woohoo!" I smile as I show my canines and my ears perk up as I hear something whistling outside which makes me look to the window. Suddenly something crashes through it and two kunai are thrown and get stuck in the ceiling becoming a sort of back curtain for the woman that's standing in front of it. "Is this part of the test?!"

"Heads up boys and girls this is no time to be celebrating!" The woman says as I see a woman in front of the curtain. Behind her the curtain says, 'here comes the second test proctor: Anko Minarashi.' "I'll be your next proctor Anko Minarashi. Ready for the second test? Good then let's go follow me!" She said with her fist in the air.

"You're early, again." Ibiki says peeking around the curtain and I see that Anko's face has a slight pink tinge to it.

"How many are there?" She asks Ibiki and she looks out over us. "Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

"Hmm, they sure don't look it. Trust me, before I'm done with them more than half will be eliminated." I growl lightly as I lock eyes with her and I let a fang slip out like an Inuzuka.

"Huh? More than half, really?" Sakura asks with a gulp.

"Ha, this is gonna be fun." Anko says as she smirks at my boldness and I raise an eyebrow at her. "Alright you maggots have had it easy so far but things are gonna be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet. Dismissed."

I smile and stand up, "I feel like having some girl time at the hot springs. Would you like to join me Mai-chan?" Temari asks as I push my chair in and do a couple of flips to pop my back.

" **Sure. Give me twenty minutes and I'll meet you there.** " I sign to her slowly letting her figure out the words herself since I don't have anything to write with.

"Okay. See you there." She says as she leaves with her siblings and I pull out the thing that Kiba slipped into my pocket. I see it's a little baggie and I open it up to see my favorite candy that his aunt makes for me whenever I come over for a clan party. I go over to Kiba and give him a kiss on the cheek.

" **Thank you for the candy.** " I sign to him and I see him trying to hide a blush before I walk out of the classroom. I pop one of the chocolate balls in my mouth and let out a moan as Naruto comes up next to me.

"Hey, you want some company?" He asks softly and I hand him one of the chocolate balls.

" **Yeah of course. I just have to head home and get my hot spring bag."** I sign to him as we walk he talks about how he didn't even write anything on the test because he wasn't going to cheat. " **That's good and honestly if I had seen that you needed help I would've given you my answers. Cause that test was so easy.** " I sign as we get to where my path of flowers starts leading us to my hidden home.

"Really? Well you were always good on the big important tests." He says and I nod.

" **Most of the stuff that we were taught was stuff that I remember from a long time ago. It's practically engrained in my mind. I'm better at theorizing than putting it out. I'd rather let a clone do the hard stuff.** " I sign and he makes me look at him.

"Well that's good. You can be more sneaky and use longer range tactics. Trust me you can use it to your advantage believe it." He says and I nod. "I'll let you get your stuff. I'm going to head over to and grab some ramen." He turns away and starts walking away which has me smile.

"Thank you Naruto. You're one of my closest friends." I say before I walk into my house and grab my stuff before I take my corset off. I check my stomach in the mirror to see that the wound is looking better, but I need to tighten the stitches so that I don't get blood in the hot springs. I grab a needle and start fixing myself up. I take a couple of strong pain pills before I start digging the needle into my skin. I let a few tears out as I pull the skin closer to one another and tie it off before cutting the old stitches. I pull them out and throw them away before cleaning off my blood with a towel. "I always hated stitching skin together." I growl at myself before putting on a light red sundress that goes to my knees and I bandage up from my ankles to just under the hem of my dress. I put my bag over my shoulder and head out walking towards the hot springs. Inside of me I swear that my wolf side is growling at something but I have no idea what. I turn around and see nothing around me except for nature. I shake my head and I ignore the feeling as I see Temari waiting at the hot spring entrance.

"You ready for relaxing?" She asks with a smile and I smile before we walk in and walk to the women side of the spa. We get undressed and cover up in a towel before going out to the hot springs. We slip in and relax in the nice warm water.

 **Time jump**

She talks about how Kankuro keeps on saying that he's going to ask me out on a date and we have a little giggle at his expense. She asks me questions and I try my hardest not to answer her verbally which is very hard. I can see that for some of her answers are restrained like she's making sure not to say anything about something. After our relaxing spa time and facials I walk her over to the guest compound.

"Thanks for relaxing with me and don't worry I'll pay you back for the extra facial." She says as Kankuro walks up without his paint and stops about four feet behind her.

" **No. That was a gift and we both needed it.** " I sign to her slowly and she smiles before I give her a hug. I see Gaara in the window and I smile at him before he turns away.

"Fine and you better wear more dresses. You look so adorable." She says as she walks back into the guest compound and I blush before I start walking back home. I pull out a little coupon book and as the sun hits my neck I let my hair down out of my braids.

"M-Maiko?" I hear Kiba say and I look up to see him, Hana, Tsume, and their ninken. I smile and wave as I walk over to them.

"I have never seen you in a dress. You look beautiful." Hana says as she looks at me up and down. I blush and shake my head.

" **No, I don't. Honestly I'd rather have pants or shorts but those are harder to take off at the springs.** " I sign and I see Kiba's cheeks red as his marks. Hana and Tsume pet my hair as the dogs nudge my legs that I have bandaged up as again.

"What do you think of Maiko Kiba?" Tsume says with a smirk and I see him trying to talk to me, but he keep stuttering like Hinata does when Naruto is near.

"My my my Maiko-kun you look so unbelievably amazing." I hear Takeshi say and I turn to see him with Yasushi. The boys come over and give me a hug.

" **Thank you.** " I sign to him slowly as Takeshi pulls me close and I see Kiba glaring at him. " **Tsume Hana these are my temporary teammates for the Chunin Exams. Takeshi and Yasushi."**

"This is my mom and older sister." Kiba says and the boys bow to them before Takeshi puts his arm around me once more.

"Nice to meet you boys. You better watch her or I'll make sure to sick the boys on you." Hana and Tsume say switching off sentences and I see the boys pale.

"Yes ma'am." They say in unison and I smile at their scared looks.

" **Anyways I'm hungry and I don't wanna cook dinner. Who wants to join me at the Akimichi BBQ place?** " I ask and since I kinda went to fast so Hana translates for me.

"Sorry pup we just had dinner." Tsume says as she walks over and rubs the top of my head. "Maybe next time." I nod and I see Kiba and Takeshi still glaring before Takeshi smirks.

" **Oh I wanted to tell you to tell Gina thank you for the chocolate. It was extremely yummy.** " I sign and Hana and Tsume look confused.

"She hasn't made any chocolate lately." Hana says as she looks at Kiba who looks like he's gonna pass out with his eyes wide.

Tsume looks at Kiba and she smirks, "So that's what you were doing last night in the kitchen. You were making-" she gets cut off by Kiba.

"Well anyways we gotta go! See you tomorrow Mai-chan." He says as he pulls his mom and sister away from us in a hurry.

"No offense Maiko but your friend is a dork." Yasushi says and I playfully punch his arm before we head over to have some BBQ.

" **Hey he may be a dork but he can come through in a pinch**." I sign slowly knowing they can't really tell what I'm saying cause Tadao hasn't taught them yet.

We get to the BBQ place and I take a deep breath in before we get sat down at one of the open grills. "What would you like Maiko-Chan?" The waiter asks as the boys look over the menu. I hold up my left wrist which means it's a protein day for me to her, "3 Steak, 2 chicken, and 3 noodle plates." I smile as we order and they start asking me questions about my old team, family, and why is it that I'm more comfortable with Shika, or Kiba, or Naruto. I answer as best I can without going too fast and using simple signs to not confuse them.

" **I've got this no-"** I try to sign but I get cut off.

"Don't you dare try to pay little dancer." I hear Choji's mom say and I turn behind me with a smile on my face. "Don't you try to act all innocent, I know you better than that. Your meals are free always you know that." I pout as she comes over and pats my head.

" **But, we ate so much, mama Akimichi.** " I sign and she smiles softly before shaking her head.

"Oh well, you three go home and relax. You have the second test tomorrow morning." She says before walking away and I growl and grumble under my breath. The knuckleheads smile and chuckle as I stubbornly gave the waitress a tip that was about a third of the bill. We leave before mama Akimichi can run after me and we start racing back to my place. I fix my dress about a thousand times before I reach home and the boys head home after we laugh about running away. I smile as I sit on my couch and I start working on stitching the leather part of a new outfit. I start humming lightly as I zone out and concentrate on working on my stitch work with the leather. I yawn lightly before shake my head to get rid of the sleep that's trying to creep up on me and continue to work. _Poke._ I feel someone poking my forehead and I look up to see a pair of dark brown eyes staring at me. I see Shikamaru sitting across from me and I blush.

" **What are you doing here?** " I sign on one hand and he stretches out his legs.

"You alright there?" He asks after he gives me a kiss on the cheek and I nod before I set my leather piece down. I put my legs on his lap and he rubs my bandaged ankle.

" **Yeah I just got really focused.** " I sign and he frowns.

"Why do you sign with me? I already know that you can speak." He says and my fingers twitch as I remember that I did talk to him.

"I kinda forgot I spoke in front of you." I say a bit embarrassed and I see him get comfortable on my couch. "You haven't told anyone that I really spoke right?"

He raises and eyebrow at me, "No. I figured you have a reason to not talk to everyone and that you'd tell us why you stay silent in your own time." He says as he scoots closer to me and he puts his arm around my shoulder. I smile and scoot closer to him, "Although I would like to know is why whenever I give you a kiss on the cheek you don't blush, but when Kiba kisses your cheekbone you do."

I blush lightly, "Y-you noticed that?"

"Yeah I did. So what's the deal?" He asks as he gets comfortable and looks at me.

"I-I don't know." I stutter and I look down rubbing my neck. "It's not like I can control my blush and I do blush sometimes."

"Sometimes? Why is it only sometimes?" My eyes widen and I lick my lips slightly to wet them out of nervousness.

"Cause that's when you kiss near my lips." I whisper and he scoots closer to me as he moves my legs so only one of them is on his lap.

"Well, that's because you never let me give you a real kiss." He says and I put my hand on his wrist. He gently grabs my chin, lifts my head, and he makes me look in his eyes. My eyes widen as I see his dark brown eyes and my cheeks blush. I see his lips turn up in his signature half smirk while he leans in. I can smell the bubble gum on his breath and I gulp slightly, "There's that blush I wanted. Now let's see if we can get it to get even brighter." He says as he slides his hand from my chin to the back of my neck and my breath hitches as he get closer. I lick my lips and he leans in closer. Just before his lips can touch mine my vision fuzzes out and I feel my side hurting even more. I open my eyes and check my clock before I groan. My wall clock saying it's 1 in the morning.


End file.
